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Do you think that gluten, lactose, or {insert supposed food intolerance here} is really just a fad?
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All right, this is going to be a long post lol. Sorry in advance!
I have celiac disease and I ate gluten with no negative symptoms for 22 years of my life, I was normal and totally healthy appearing. Like me, most people with Celiac are not diagnosed until their 20s-30s. It is a genetic disease, that has some sort of trigger that is undetermined. Before the trigger, gluten has no impact on these people. There are theories that genetic modification of the wheat, or the use of a chemical in round-up are trigger the disease, but this has not been fully determined.
I was 23 when I developed a horrible itchy rash, and my left arm would go numb for weeks at a time. It took me 4 months of suffering for doctors to finally determine that it was Dermatitis Herpetiformis, which is a skin condition caused by Celiac disease. I was completely shocked that my crazy symptoms were caused by my body’s reaction to gluten! I had absolutely no digestive symptoms – and I am not alone. Symptoms of Celiac disease that are never talked about include mood swing/depression, horribly itchy skin rash (often misdiagnosed as psoriasis), numbness and tingling in arms and legs, the presence of other autoimmune disorders, and yes infertility (it is the first thing they check in Finland when a couple cannot have a child). What I think a lot of people don’t understand is because Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder, gluten causes my body to attack itself EVERYWHERE, not just my digestive system.
To diagnose celiac disease is incredibly difficult. You must be eating gluten and presenting symptoms for any of the tests to come back positive. Which is really not fun once you have figured out that gluten is causing your symptoms. The first step is a blood test for Tissue Transglutaminase (tTG), but that may come back negative even if you have the disease. If you do happen to test positive, you will need to have a biopsy of your small intestines to confirm the diagnosis. If the sample that is taken happens to show damage from celiac disease, presenting damaged cilia, you will test positive. However, if the sample happens to be from an area that the disease has not damaged, you will test negative for Celiac disease. Or, if like me you present symptoms in your skin, the dermatologist must take the skin sample not from directly on a lesion, but next to it in order to test positive for the disease. Again you can test negative if the test is not performed correctly, and still have celiac disease.
There is no way to conclusively test negative for Celiac disease. I repeat, a doctor can never tell you conclusively that Celiac disease is ruled out.
My opinion, based on my research, is that a large portion of the population have Celiac disease and do not know it. People medically diagnosed with “Gluten Intolerance” almost certainly have Celiac disease, but tested “negative” for the disease, or perhaps the doctor simply didn’t want to put them through the ridiculous sequence of tests.
I certainly agree that eating gluten free is a fad, and that there are many people who do fake being “gluten intolerant,” and they can make it rough for the rest of us who have a medical reaction. Personally I don’t get it, because for non-Celiac-diseased people, eating gluten free is totally not necessary. Gluten free substitutes, such as gluten free cookies or bread, are typically loaded with extra butter and sugar to make up for the lack of gluten; basically they are double the calories. So this dietary choice confuses me.
That being said, from an outsider perspective, it is nearly impossible to tell who has a medical reaction, and who is just trying a new diet and talking a big game. So I just take everyone at their word and try to educate people whenever I can.
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Only 1% of the population is actually gluten sensitive.
So...yes, it's a fad.5 -
it is very real and is not a fad for some people. for others it is a fad. these issues do exist.0
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I work in food. I sell gluten (lots of gluten) products. Also, clean gluten products and products that are for grain free people.
Yes I think people can be sensitive to things that others aren’t without having a full blown allergy. I’ve experienced it myself (not with gluten). Also, it’s far far easier to just avoid wheat if it messes with you (go gluten free) than to try to find the cause of why you feel like crap when you eat it.
Is there a bandwagon? Sure. Is everyone on that wagon faking? I don’t think so. But a good portion are likely trying to just feel (and look) good eating food and are willing to try anything to get there.3 -
No. I don't. As a parent of a child with Autism, i can tell you that gluten free/casien free foods were a HUGE part in helping him better sense and feel his surroundings. Including helping him to have the sense to feel when he had to urinate and have a BM. HUGE.2
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Roadie2000 wrote: »Do you think it's possible to have a slight reaction to gluten? My wife seems to think her body just can't handle too much of it but it's fine in lower doses.
More likely it’s the fructans in the wheat that are causing the issue.2 -
MikePfirrman wrote: »Steven Gundry, MD, has a book out. I've not read it but according to Gundry, the "70% of the world is allergic to dairy" means they are allergic to a certain type of dairy protein. According to Gundry, US cows are different than European cows. Europe's cows are "A2" protein producing cows exclusively. It's hypothetically thought that this is why the French eat more cheese than anywhere in the world yet have less heart disease (but more cancer because they smoke like chimneys!).
American Dairy is A1/A2. Our cows have the spots on them. The fact that the cows have the spots is the sign (typically) that they are A1 and A2 both. We react (again according to Gundry) from the A1 proteins. This is why many people that are lactose intolerant have no issues with sheep/goat milk. Sheep/goat milk is A2 proteins exclusively too.
There is now available (in most grocery stores) A2 milk. It's more expensive but only the A2 variety proteins (from the same types of cows in Europe). There's a yogurt company in OH that is now producing exclusively A2 yogurt from grass fed cows.
Lactose intolerance is exactly that, an intolerance to the sugar lactose. Cows milk allergy is completely different and relates to proteins. The two are distinct issues and shouldn’t be confused. I am lactose intolerant, I am not allergic to cows milk. Lactose intolerance is often dosage dependant, with different products affecting people in different measures because they contain more or less fat, with lactose being insoluble in fat and therefore present in smaller amounts in higher fat products.3 -
Lactose intolerance is definitely real. I was BORN lactose intolerant, at the time it took them 3 months to figure out why I was such a sick, cranky baby. Once they figured it out, and was put on a lactose free diet, I was quite a normal baby (from what my mother tells me anyways).
My mother has a number of food allergies, and is gluten sensitive, but has discovered through trial and error over many years that in very limited quantities, most of the things are okay for her to indulge in (sometimes with bathroom consequences if she over does it). She went through a number of tests many years ago for celiac after a nutritionist (through an elimination diet) determined that gluten was an issue for her. She never did test positive for it, but she definitely felt better eliminating it from her diet at the time.
That being said, I've seen a LOT of people where it's just a fad with the usual placebo effects.
Either way, to each their own. As long as someone isn't trying to force their eating choices on me, if they are being relatively healthy, I fail to see why I should expend energy on trying to dissuade them.2 -
Only 1% of the population is actually gluten sensitive.
So...yes, it's a fad.
It's actually just over 1% that is a celiac. Most estimates I see for gluten sensitivity are between 5 and 30%.
IMO, gluten-free foods for weight loss is a fad. A GF diet to address health problems is not.7 -
Only 1% of the population is actually gluten sensitive.
So...yes, it's a fad.
It's actually just over 1% that is a celiac. Most estimates I see for gluten sensitivity are between 5 and 30%.
IMO, gluten-free foods for weight loss is a fad. A GF diet to address health problems is not.
This! My cousin was diagnosed with celiac disease in the mid-70's, and her doctor did months of tests and research trying to figure out what was wrong because gluten issues just weren't a thing. At that time she was the first patient he had ever seen or knew about personally with celiac disease. I'm not sure why it's suddenly became the diet of the decade, except I suppose it's so restrictive and people tend to drift toward that type of thing when they feel out of control around food.1 -
Only 1% of the population is actually gluten sensitive.
So...yes, it's a fad.
It's actually just over 1% that is a celiac. Most estimates I see for gluten sensitivity are between 5 and 30%.
IMO, gluten-free foods for weight loss is a fad. A GF diet to address health problems is not.
This! My cousin was diagnosed with celiac disease in the mid-70's, and her doctor did months of tests and research trying to figure out what was wrong because gluten issues just weren't a thing. At that time she was the first patient he had ever seen or knew about personally with celiac disease. I'm not sure why it's suddenly became the diet of the decade, except I suppose it's so restrictive and people tend to drift toward that type of thing when they feel out of control around food.
I think it was a perfect storm. There were a couple of celebrity's who were diagnosed about 10 years ago, and then there were a few books that resonated with people - like Wheat Belly.
I think it caught on because there is a large enough minority that feel better GF so that it became profitable to make GF products... Maybe they were replacing the Low-fat void that was growing?3 -
Caeliac is often the only "legitimate" illness mentioned but that is a grossly myopic view.
Many autoimmune diseases, particularly those that involve inflammatory responses are exacerbated by high gluten foods--so yes, there is some merit to claiming gluten sensitivity, and therefore avoiding those foods.
Many, if not all, of these illnesses affect mobility, mental health, GI stability and thereby indirectly cause weight gain among patients--so yes, you can be gluten sensitive and overweight/obese.
Again, the myopia surrounding this topic is ridiculous.6 -
CharisSunny wrote: »Caeliac is often the only "legitimate" illness mentioned but that is a grossly myopic view.
Many autoimmune diseases, particularly those that involve inflammatory responses are exacerbated by high gluten foods--so yes, there is some merit to claiming gluten sensitivity, and therefore avoiding those foods.
Many, if not all, of these illnesses affect mobility, mental health, GI stability and thereby indirectly cause weight gain among patients--so yes, you can be gluten sensitive and overweight/obese.
Again, the myopia surrounding this topic is ridiculous.
Some varieties of some subsets of autoimmune may be exacerbated by gluten. And some are not.
Some varieties of some subsets of autoimmune may be exacerbated by meat. And some are not.
Some varieties of some subsets of autoimmune may be exacerbated by rice. And some are not.
This is a highly specific and personal subject out of 5 Lupus patients, one may get relief from cutting out gluten, one may get worse, and the other 3 have no noticeable change.
Making blanket sweeping statements based on other people's experience leads to eating nothing and starving to death.0 -
stanmann571 wrote: »CharisSunny wrote: »Caeliac is often the only "legitimate" illness mentioned but that is a grossly myopic view.
Many autoimmune diseases, particularly those that involve inflammatory responses are exacerbated by high gluten foods--so yes, there is some merit to claiming gluten sensitivity, and therefore avoiding those foods.
Many, if not all, of these illnesses affect mobility, mental health, GI stability and thereby indirectly cause weight gain among patients--so yes, you can be gluten sensitive and overweight/obese.
Again, the myopia surrounding this topic is ridiculous.
Some varieties of some subsets of autoimmune may be exacerbated by gluten. And some are not.
Some varieties of some subsets of autoimmune may be exacerbated by meat. And some are not.
Some varieties of some subsets of autoimmune may be exacerbated by rice. And some are not.
This is a highly specific and personal subject out of 5 Lupus patients, one may get relief from cutting out gluten, one may get worse, and the other 3 have no noticeable change.
Making blanket sweeping statements based on other people's experience leads to eating nothing and starving to death.
The word "many" implies "not all" i.e. not sweeping.
Stating that gluten sensitivity is a farce is sweeping.
I, as the scientist that I am, have ensured that I have not swept.3 -
It's not a farce and it is real but it is also a fad for the majority of people who buy gluten free products.
If just actual gluten sensitive people bought these products the makers wouldn't sell them because they would not have enough consumers to make a profit.
Similar fads are organic foods, veganism, vegetarianisn, yoga, and anything Gwyneth Paltrow promotes.2 -
Guys ... okay I only read pages 1 and 13, but people know there is a difference between an allergy and an intolerance right?
Lactose intolerance is not an allergy to lactose, as in your immune system doesn't start attacking you or producing some crazy histamine response because you ate some yogurt. Intolerances generally develop from not producing - or under-producing - the enzymes needed to digest something particular, in this case the 5-carbon sugar lactose (the corresponding enzyme is lactase). It's entirely possible to have these intolerances vary in severity over the course of your life.
Many people with IBS are told to avoid high FODMAP foods, for instance, which are generally short-chain carbohydrates that aren't digested very well. I'm not well-read enough on the gluten (which is a protein) issue, but it seems entirely plausible that people can have difficulty digesting these things to varying degrees. That doesn't mean these people are faking any sort of allergy, just that their bowels work a little better if they don't eat a whole lot of them.
Now, gluten really does seem (to me) to be blown out of proportion. Also, I doubt a lot of the religiously gluten-free crowd would recognize this distinction between allergy and intolerance. And as some sort of weight loss aid, it's entirely a fad. Unless you don't replace the bread you would have eaten with something else.2 -
CharisSunny wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »CharisSunny wrote: »Caeliac is often the only "legitimate" illness mentioned but that is a grossly myopic view.
Many autoimmune diseases, particularly those that involve inflammatory responses are exacerbated by high gluten foods--so yes, there is some merit to claiming gluten sensitivity, and therefore avoiding those foods.
Many, if not all, of these illnesses affect mobility, mental health, GI stability and thereby indirectly cause weight gain among patients--so yes, you can be gluten sensitive and overweight/obese.
Again, the myopia surrounding this topic is ridiculous.
Some varieties of some subsets of autoimmune may be exacerbated by gluten. And some are not.
Some varieties of some subsets of autoimmune may be exacerbated by meat. And some are not.
Some varieties of some subsets of autoimmune may be exacerbated by rice. And some are not.
This is a highly specific and personal subject out of 5 Lupus patients, one may get relief from cutting out gluten, one may get worse, and the other 3 have no noticeable change.
Making blanket sweeping statements based on other people's experience leads to eating nothing and starving to death.
The word "many" implies "not all" i.e. not sweeping.
Stating that gluten sensitivity is a farce is sweeping.
I, as the scientist that I am, have ensured that I have not swept.
Many is a massive overstatement of the case... and thus... is sweeping. It's nothing like many. At best it's another 2-3% in addition to the 1% that are celiac. Suggesting avoidance with no testing is why we get 15 people a week asking how to stop drinking diet soda. Something else that is not harmful to 95% or more of the population and yet the farcical hype recommend avoiding Just in Case.2 -
I have Celiac and over weight. I was thin as a child and can remember my mother telling me stand up suck that gut in you look 6 months pregnant. Well testing was not all available. Not all test are accurate either as it took a test 2 times and it took like years to figure out that there was something going on. Trust me there are days and wake up and want to just run down the street and grab and yummy hamburger from time to time. So for me it certainly is not a FAD- Its how i have to eat or I am severely sick and in so much pain for days. I am glad there are products now that are GF and I feel so much better now.6
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I have Celiac and over weight. I was thin as a child and can remember my mother telling me stand up suck that gut in you look 6 months pregnant. Well testing was not all available. Not all test are accurate either as it took a test 2 times and it took like years to figure out that there was something going on. Trust me there are days and wake up and want to just run down the street and grab and yummy hamburger from time to time. So for me it certainly is not a FAD- Its how i have to eat or I am severely sick and in so much pain for days. I am glad there are products now that are GF and I feel so much better now.
I agree, and I think that it's great that GF is a fad. Not sure why so many people are offended about it. Who cares if some people eat GF for silly reasons? It's not harmful if your diet is otherwise balanced. I couldn't care less. Live and let live.
This fad means more stuff is available for people like me to eat. I only eat processed GF foods occasionally as a convenience or as a treat, but it's nice to have them available. I especially appreciate the new flour blends, since I love to bake and I wasn't able to enjoy that for a long time. Most of the food I eat is naturally GF, though.
I have to say that there are NEVER days that I am tempted to eat gluten containing foods. The years that I was sick were so miserable that I don't even miss that stuff. (TMI: near-constant nausea with occasional vomiting out both ends.)
The one thing that is kind of ridiculous for the normal person, though, is going GF as a weight loss strategy. LOL. I guess it could help if you are used to eating a lot of bread, etc., and the GF diet forces you to cut that out (as long as you don't use GF replacement products to fill in. That would defeat the purpose.) So yeah, don't bother.
P.S. I didn't lose any weight when I went GF, I was already at the low end of my healthy BMI because I was sick all the time, but I did lose a pant size as the chronic bloat went away.2
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