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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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Replies

  • lucerorojo
    lucerorojo Posts: 790 Member
    No, it's not just a fad. As much as I would like to be able to eat dairy, I cannot. When I was younger I did not have a problem. Nowadays I just stay away from ice cream, yogurt, etc. I do not like milk, so that's not a problem. I will occasionally have cream in my coffee (maybe 1-2 per month)--cannot do it daily. Even that will give me an upset stomach, diarrhea if it is more that a small bit. Can't eat pizza anymore either--that is just not fun. And I used to love pizza. I can tolerate parmesan and some other cheeses in very small doses.

    I have a friend who is celiac. This is NO joke or fad.
  • WVWalkerFriend
    WVWalkerFriend Posts: 575 Member
    I think its more important to ask one's self why the eating habits of others are so upsetting. Someone doesn't want to eat gluten and they're not Celiac - so what? Who or what are they harming by cutting out gluten? Considering the foods gluten is found in, they're probably cutting out a ton of calories void of any vitamins or minerals and, if doing things correctly, adding in more fruits and veggies. No one needs bread and cookies to survive. You may want them, sure, but that is not a need. Cutting out gluten (or carbs, or sugar, or fat, or whatever) is not the same thing as jumping on the latest diet pill craze and to equate the two is ludicrous. In my experience the people cutting out foods without a medical reason eventually revert back to eating whatever they were cutting out. Is it annoying when family does it? Sure, but those folks tend to be annoying anyway.
  • purpleannex
    purpleannex Posts: 61 Member
    Yes.
  • Roadie2000
    Roadie2000 Posts: 1,801 Member
    edited January 2018
    I don't think it's a fad at all. There are many people with a legitimate gluten intolerance or Celiac disease and others that might have it but aren't even aware of it. If you research signs of gluten intolerance it will list a number of things that are fairly common, so people might assume if they have 1 or 2 of them that they have some sort of gluten intolerance.

    Really you never know if you have it unless you completely cut it out of your diet and you start to feel better. Even then, you might have inadvertently cut something else out of your diet that you were sensitive to.

    As for myself, I have a number of digestive problems and tried to go gluten free for a while but didn't notice a huge change. But still there is something in the back of my mind that tells me that I may still be slightly intolerant, and I'll occasionally pick a gluten free option just because I figure it can't hurt.
  • lorri71
    lorri71 Posts: 95 Member
    There is a difference with a food intollerance, food allergy, food sensitivity. In proper allergy there is an Ige response in the blood and your body attacks the food as a foreign body. I have been diagnosed with numerous food allergies 23 years ago and have to follow a strick diet and carry an adrenaline injection at all times. I would love to eat all the things I miss but its not just an excuse not to eat foods. I can't even go on a holiday and eat food there and have to take food with me as I can't risk an anaphylactic reaction because it can cause death.
    Yes there are people who say they are allergic without a diagnosis but it is not everyone.
  • Fuzzipeg
    Fuzzipeg Posts: 2,301 Member
    Shaumom, I'm so sorry you and your daughter are subjected to all this at each and every turn. I'm sure no one who does not experience the symptoms involved with having a Celiac diagnosis have any idea of what it can entail for you both. I wonder would they have the strength of character to swop their accustomed choices to achieve a reasonable, or at least improved quality of life were it to become their diagnosis.

    In the distant past, one of the people at a family wedding had a celiac diagnosis. As well as ensuring the caterers knew what was required and where she was sitting, I took this as an opportunity to provide a decorated sponge cake along side my traditional decorated fruit cake, only she knew the flour was not wheat and she was safe with it. She was so appreciative of my simple gesture which only required different flour, so very easy, because I would have made an alternative any way. Subsequently I've needed to make my own exclusions in my diet, just to feel and be well. I even took my own food to a family wedding because my needs were too complicated to explain to any intermediary to forward to a caterer.

    Why should it matter to anyone else why someone eats as they do. I'm astounded that so many who have recognised dietary difficulties have it thrown in their faces that, it is only a "fad" in an ignorant person's view, who could even be a doctor. Walk in our shoes and see how you do, I'd rather not need to be different.
  • jseams1234
    jseams1234 Posts: 1,219 Member
    https://youtu.be/4sKcFyBC2Ks?t=46s
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    It's not "just" a fad. Many people have celiac or lactose intolerance (lactose intolerance is quite common) or other food intolerances.

    It is a fad.

    I suspect that it being a fad contributes to people taking it less seriously and assuming someone is just being trendy these days, which is unfortunate for those who have intolerances, but I also suspect that it being a fad probably means it's easier to find food free of whatever (well, except lactose, which seems easy enough to avoid, but maybe it's easier for kids today).

    I don't think I met anyone who was celiac until 2003, and when she and I traveled together (with some other people) the general impression seemed to be that it was of course serious and she was quite unlucky and it must be really hard to do -- no one assumed it was some fad or tried to convince her to eat stuff she couldn't. But she also had a hard time getting some people to understand that she couldn't eat quite common things (part of this was that we were in a foreign country and there was a language issue, but I recall even the group might forget pasta was a problem for her or some such, since people weren't as aware of the whole "no gluten" thing). Now it seems like everyone and their cousin is gluten-free in my neighborhood and I do think many of them are just fad followers, but who cares? I think it's really weird to care that someone else doesn't want to eat something. If someone is making a fuss that they can't eat anything and blaming others, then sure, but just not eating some offered dish, weird. Most group gatherings with food I go to no one is expected to eat everything anyway.

    Hmm, I do think these kinds of things are more common (people with all kinds of dietary restrictions) in some areas than others (just as vegans are more common in some areas than others), and it probably makes a difference. These days, I'd be surprised running into someone in real life in my neighborhood who didn't know wheat flour has gluten (or pasta or whatever) although that oats might be cross contaminated is something I think might be less widely known. But I think some places (and you see this on MFP some) you might find a lot more people who have no clue what gluten is and assume it means no bread or some such and be surprised (and sad) that someone can't have their cookie, even though that seems illogical to me. Unfortunately, I think sometimes people respond to a feeling that they've screwed up by being mad at the person who tells them that (however nicely it happens). (In the vegan context: "oh, sorry, you really can't have cheese either?" may be followed by "seriously, no cheese? Don't you think that's extreme?" It's wrong and a shame, but humans are like that sometimes.)
  • junodog1
    junodog1 Posts: 4,792 Member
    JustRobby1 wrote: »
    I do not discount at all those who have legitimate medical issues, but I would still contend that the majority of people who have a gluten fixation in 2017 are simply impressionable, attention-seeking rubes who follows silly marketing trends and are buying into the hype. The same type of people that bought a Lance Armstrong bracelet and would of been a prime candidate for purchasing a pet rock when that was trendy.

    This extremely annoying girl that works in HR at my company told me a few weeks ago she thought she was allergic to gluten. She blathered on endlessly about how she always felt run-down and crabby, had a waning sex drive, dry skin and hair, etc .Must be gluten! Yeah, that's the obvious culprit. Because at 25 years old, it couldn’t possibly be a result of the two packs of cigarettes per day and handle of rum she consumes every weekend. She probably got the idea from some stupid magazine article that she is always reading.

    Again, I fully appreciate people who have Celiac disease. This is an autoimmune disorder that occurs in genetically predisposed people where the ingestion of gluten leads to damage in the small intestine and tons of pain. When people with celiac disease eat gluten, their body mounts an immune response that literally causes the body to attack itself. This has to suck, and these folks have my sympathy.

    The guy who "discovered" gluten sensitivity was an Aussie by the name of Peter Gibson. Peter is a professor of gastroenterology at Monash University and director of the GI Unit at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. His original research yielded results which were not replaceable (a key concept in the scientific method) by other labs . So like any good scientist, he re-launched a far more extensive series of trials and concluded that non-Celiac gluten sensitivity is nonsense. Peter's lab is hardly alone in this conclusion either. Check Medline or PubMed.

    So unless you actually have Celiac disease, gluten has almost ZERO practical effect on you. And when you have Celiac disease, you KNOW you have it very early on in life most of the time. Just because you get sleepy after you eat seven slices of pizza doesn’t mean you’re allergic to gluten. Feeling bloated after plowing through that plate of Fettuccine Alfredo? You should, but not for the reasons you try to delude yourself into believing.

    That said, this level of stupidity does have some economic benefit. $12.5 billion dollars worth of gluten-free products sold in the year 2016. So I guess indirectly it is supplying jobs and an economic boost. Ironically enough, in my day job I work for an ad agency, and this is hardly the only time pure nonsense is able to capture both the minds and wallets of the impressionable public.

    You laugh, but there are many benefits to the pet rock.

    Many cats and dogs have come into my life and left; leaving me with a hole in my heart and the need to seek out another fur leaving, vomiting, pooping, bit of wonderfulness.

    If I had gotten a pet rock it would still be here, as healthy and active as the first day. There is no clean up, no feeding schedule, no exercise requirements, no vet bills and its affection cannot be alienated.


  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    edited January 2018
    http://freakonomics.com/podcast/demonization-gluten/

    I found interesting, with info about the mis-diagnosis, self-diagnosis, non-diagnosis, fad aspects, impacts, history, ect.

    With some interesting effects of quitting when not needed.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    georgieamber2 wrote: »
    There's no such thing as "lactose intolerant" ... you're just not a baby cow and it's as simple as that. You can't consume a product not meant for your own species without repercussions. x

    http://scribol.com/environment/animals-environment/10-incredible-tales-of-interspecies-nursing/

    Looks like tigers can handle pigs milk (and, according to the text, vice versa), cats can handle dog milk, rabbits can handle cat milk...

    I'd be the last one to say that these products are 'meant' for the little sucklers, but it doesn't appear to harm them.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    cbohling1987 wrote: »
    My wife gets violently ill if she eats gluten, so no, it's not a fad, and if you keep insisting that it is, then well *kitten* you!

    It's both...yes, some people are allergic...but it's also a huge fad. I have friends who are gluten free who readily admit they have no particular issues with gluten...they just think it's healthier to be gluten free even though they eat a ton of gluten free breads, pastries, etc. They also keep bitching about the fact that they've been doing this for two years and haven't lost any weight.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    edited January 2018
    I don't feel guilty. I don't enjoy milk either. Never liked the taste without a lot of Nestle Quik added. Cheese, however, is a totally different story.

    ETA: As is ice cream.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    georgieamber2 wrote: »
    There's no such thing as "lactose intolerant" ... you're just not a baby cow and it's as simple as that. You can't consume a product not meant for your own species without repercussions. x

    Is this a strange and roundabout endorsement of cannibalism?
  • jseams1234
    jseams1234 Posts: 1,219 Member
    Dunno about cannibalism - but now I want a steak... and a bowl of Fruity Pebbles with milk.
  • Roadie2000
    Roadie2000 Posts: 1,801 Member
    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.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited January 2018
    georgieamber2 wrote: »
    There's no such thing as "lactose intolerant" ... you're just not a baby cow and it's as simple as that. You can't consume a product not meant for your own species without repercussions. x

    Most people who have problems with cow's milk have problems with lactose. Those people would not be good with human milk (once they are weaned and have lost the ability that mammal babies generally have to digest lactose) either. Many humans, however, have genes that give them lactase persistence, the ability to digest lactose as adults. There are multiple different genes that provide for this, developing in different areas where dairy was helpful to survival. People from areas where dairy has been part of the diet for a long time tend not to be lactose intolerant, in quite high percentages (northern and western Europe is one such example).

    No foods are "meant for" one species or not. What does that even mean -- someone has to be intending that we eat a particular diet in such a case, so it is inherently theological in some way (which is fine with me, I'm religious, but it's not a scientific debate).

    Saying we are "meant to" consume eggs or meat or even broccoli or potatoes or the product of longstanding farming (like bananas and wheat and corn) and not dairy is illogical, IMO.

    I never drink cow's milk, but I am easily able to digest it and it is not something I am intolerant of at all, it gives me no problems. I just prefer not to consume it.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    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.

    Severity of reaction can be different for effects, as well what other stresses body is handling.

    Pretty sure that's why some people go on extreme diet, stress out body, and then discover some sensitivities to food they didn't notice before, likely when eating more of it.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    anglyn1 wrote: »
    I'm celiac and I was overweight and an adult back when I was diagnosed (since it was implicated earlier that you must be thin to have it and diagnosed as a child).

    I do think to some people it's a fad but I'm not sure why it bothers everyone so badly. I try to order a gluten free meal and get looks or someone will be like oh no you're one of "those people". Nope but so what if I was??? I use stevia instead of sugar and I'm not diabetic. I sometimes make recipes with cashew or almond milk and I'm not vegan. If you are just a random, non diagnosed person who wants to pay extra for gluten free bread and pasta knock yourself out! It keeps more options available for those in need.

    My only real pet peeve is people who go to restaurants and make a big production of their entrée needing to be gluten free only to drink a gluten filled beer or treat themselves to a gluten filled dessert. That just makes servers think the issue isn't serious and not pay as much attention to requests from legit celiac customers.

    Nicely said. :)
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    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.

    Yes.

    I react more to gluten the more I have (I'm a celiac), but I also know people who are not celiacs who react violently to gluten in the short term - much worse than me.

    If I eat gluten, I get the obvious stomach ache. The gluten sensitive person I know gets nausea and the runs. We both get migraines... but these are the obvious symptoms.

    But after a few exposures I get arthralgias, vitamin deficiencies, my hair falls out, I get quite fatigued, my thyroid is affected, constipation, and the migraines last days rather than hours. I imagine my intestines get fairly damaged too.

    As a celiac, my symptoms after eating a bit are not that bad, but it is doing damage that may take some time to become apparent. It's often best to avoid something that causes problems... Think of it like a poison - why have a little bit just because it tastes good or is convenient. KWIM?
  • iowalinda
    iowalinda Posts: 357 Member
    There are a lot of people who suffer from gastrointestinal problems nowadays, as evidenced by all the drugs being advertised currently for this issue. My thought regarding digestive problems with bread is that it could be ANYTHING in the bread, not just the gluten. They put many chemicals in our food. And the formulations are constantly changing. Also, a person could have a sensitivity to yeast. Let's not be so judgmental.
    And, on the off chance that someone is completely making it up so they can avoid certain foods or get sympathy, who cares? I certainly don't.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    harrietmaley wrote: »
    This is a really interesting discussion - I've had three people I know who haven't ever had an issue with gluten with diagnosed with an allergy against it, and avoid it on the orders of the doctors even though it didn't bother them before... A little odd.

    As for Lactose, I used to love all things dairy but don't touch the stuff now because it's just not something I want to put in my body knowing certain things I do (I lead a plant based diet), but supposedly 70% of the world is lactose intolerant - it raises the question are we meant to actually be digesting these things that everyone is becoming allergic to?

    It gives us food for though (pardon the pun!).

    Not trying to be snarky at all, but I think that in general allergies (or at least, their diagnosis) have risen significantly in recent decades. Before asking whether we're meant to be digesting dairy, maybe we should be asking it of peanuts, tree nuts, citrus, etc.

    I will definitely agree that someone who is lactose intolerant should not be digesting dairy (although if they really want some ice cream and lactase tablets will allow them to enjoy it without repercussions, more power to them), just like I'd never suggest a classic Snickers bar to someone with a peanut allergy*. But for those of us who can handle dairy just fine? No issues.


    *Excluding the Snickers Almond bar...
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