What are the benefits of Gluten Free?

lwagnitz

Please help me out, here. I'm confused by this new fad. It can't be because everyone all of a sudden has Celiac Disease...which from my understanding is pretty rare.

CoachReddy

Most people have at least some minor sensitivity to gluten. Whether or not you've noticed it has to do with how significant your sensitivity is. Some people tolerate it perfectly, some people absolutely can't tolerate it, and everyone else falls somewhere in between.

The reality is that the quality of wheat that goes into our system today is SIGNIFICANTLY lower than it was 50 years ago. We've genetically modified it to be heartier, and thus our bodies have a difficult time digesting it. The prevalence of Celiac disease is 400% higher today than it was 50 years ago. Some of that has to do with better detection, and some of it has to do with the crappy overly processed, modified wheat we now ingest.

Gluten-free isn't a fad. It literally can change people's lives for the better. I'm experimenting with it right now because I've been dealing with chronic larynx and sinus inflammation, and it seems like it could be related to some sort of sensitivity, so gluten is the first thing I'm testing.

I've seen it help a ton of people - a couple major league baseball players adopted it this off-season and are touting their improved energy.

Adkins is a fad (ie: it works but makes you sicker in many other ways)

Gluten free isn't a fad. It's a necessity for many people

lwagnitz

I would disagree that it isn't a fad, by definition. But thank you for your post. I don't know much about gluten, or Celiac Disease, so I wanted to better understand. Definitely not trying to knock GF, just really curious, and uninformed.

Is gluten just in wheat, or is it in other products?

babyangelica2010

I have celiacs, so the benefits of not eating it means I don't get super bloated, I don't have stabbing pain in my stomach that makes it impossible to stand up straight, and I find it also makes my depression worse and I get angry easily.
I do agree with you about it being a fad though, some people seem to think that going gluten free will help you lose weight. I can tell you that this is NOT always the case. For some people it helps because it can get you away from overly processed foods, and if you are eating more whole foods, you are more likely to lose weight. BUT there are also a lot of gluten free processed foods too.
I have to say that I am kinda glad I can't eat gluten sometimes. I work in a fast food restaurant and it means that I can't eat our food. If I could I would be 300lbs by now lol

Edited to answer your question...gluten is in a lot more than just wheat. It can be found in canned soups, processed meats, yogurt, chicken/beef broths, toothpaste, lip balms, even medications. It's EVERYWHERE.

Chieflrg

Some people feel it helps with RA as well many other autoimmune diseases. A lot of the autoimmune diseases are so entangled with the same symptoms Dr.s often misdiagnose them. Its not rare to have more than one either.

CoachReddy

I would disagree that it isn't a fad, by definition. But thank you for your post. I don't know much about gluten, or Celiac Disease, so I wanted to better understand. Definitely not trying to knock GF, just really curious, and uninformed.

Is gluten just in wheat, or is it in other products?

If you're forced to eat a certain way because your body doesn't digest wheat, how is that a fad? it's no different from taking medicine to treat an illness - it's what you have to do to stay healthy. For people with Celiac it's not a choice. Fads are - by definition - not necessary to your health.

Gluten is found in a number of grains:

Barley, including barley malt
Bran
Bulgur
Farina
Kamut
Orzo
Semolina
Spelt
Wheat

and in anything with wheat, wheat flour, white flour, etc as an ingredient. tons of processed foods also include it.

sleepytexan

I'm GF so my stomach doesn't cramp or bloat.

If you have no digestive issues, no need to change your diet.

lwagnitz

Fad, noun; An intense and widely shared enthusiasm for something, esp. one that is short-lived; a craze.
Just saying. Just because it is for your health, doesn't necessarily mean it's not a fad.

& Thank you

Johanne1957

This was very informative, thank you! I didn't know much about gluten...I went to read articles and found one that would interest my daughter as she has severe sinus problems that docs haven't been able to fix...the article mentioned that gluten could be related to sinus issues!
She is looking into it and will try a gluten free diet to see if this will improve her situation!

Thanks again all for the info!

xDMartinHx

My son is coeliac so a lot of what i eat is also gluten free so i dont need to cook extra meals. some gf foods need getting used to others are even better than the normal.

MsFree09

Hi, I have Celiac Disease and trust me it is no fad. Celiac is an autoimmune disorder. Like others have stated there are different levels of tolerance. I also got debilitating stomach and pelvic pain when I digested wheat/gluten. Think cramps times 100. I also got hives....red, raised itchy inflamed splotches all over my body and my eyes used to swell shot. It is a serious and sometimes life threatening allergy. My sister has had it for 6 yrs and my dad has had it for about 15. My dad is on the life threatening side of the allergy. The last time he ate wheat/gluten his throat swelled up, his eyes, swelled shut and he could barely breathe. I actually got a blood test done a little over a year ago to determine if in fact I was allergic. Some people just speculate and eliminate it from their diet. But I encourage people to get tested.

Gluten can be found in almost anything: some meat, soy sauce, condiments, medicine, makeup. It may be one thing to avoid these things but cross contamination can also trigger a reaction. Like, you toasting regular bread in my toaster. Crumbs can be passed to my bread and I will have a reaction. Maybe not as severe as usual but a reaction nonetheless. I encourage you to explore some medical articles regarding Celiac. It'll definitely help your understanding.

National Institute of Health - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001280/
Celiac Disease Foundation- http://www.celiac.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3&Itemid=9

CoachReddy

Hi, I have Celiac Disease and trust me it is no fad. Celiac is an autoimmune disorder. Like others have stated there are different levels of tolerance. I also got debilitating stomach and pelvic pain when I digested wheat/gluten. Think cramps times 100. I also got hives....red, raised itchy inflamed splotches all over my body and my eyes used to swell shot. It is a serious and sometimes life threatening allergy. My sister has had it for 6 yrs and my dad has had it for about 15. My dad is on the life threatening side of the allergy. The last time he ate wheat/gluten his throat swelled up, his eyes, swelled shut and he could barely breathe. I actually got a blood test done a little over a year ago to determine if in fact I was allergic. Some people just speculate and eliminate it from their diet. But I encourage people to get tested.

Gluten can be found in almost anything: some meat, soy sauce, condiments, medicine, makeup. It may be one thing to avoid these things but cross contamination can also trigger a reaction. Like, you toasting regular bread in my toaster. Crumbs can be passed to my bread and I will have a reaction. Maybe not as severe as usual but a reaction nonetheless. I encourage you to explore some medical articles regarding Celiac. It'll definitely help your understanding.

National Institute of Health - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001280/
Celiac Disease Foundation- http://www.celiac.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3&Itemid=9

exactly. I wrote a big ole response but felt it wasn't worth my energy. nothing about GF is a fad. who in their right mind WANTS to go GF if they don't have to?

babyangelica2010

No it's not a fad to people who NEED to be gluten free, but I am surprised at the number of people who are gluten free because they think it's healthier to not eat wheat/gluten (my dr is not intolerant but is gluten free) and there are a LOT of people, like I mentioned who go gluten free to lose weight. A coworker of mine was one of them until she found out it didn't work AND was a lot more expensive.
Don't believe it's a fad? Check this out:

http://www.google.ca/#hl=en&sugexp=les;&gs_rn=4&gs_ri=psy-ab&cp=15&gs_id=1l&xhr=t&q=gluten+free+to+lose+weight&es_nrs=true&pf=p&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&oq=gluten+free+to+&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.42768644,d.b2I&fp=e15db191cba4d770&biw=1280&bih=685

trijoe

A fad, my *kitten*. Pay attention to others, and maybe just maybe you'll learn a thing or two.

Food intolerance is felt by a large number of people, most of whom will never realize it. In our house, we have 2 of our 3 daughters who struggle with food insensitivities. Their symptoms have been basic GI type issues: Chronic constipation, nighttime stomach pains, things like that. Stuff that people would say, "You should eat less cheese or bananas". After years of this, things became so bad for one of our daughters that she ended up in the hospital. They had to put her on an iv and totally clear her stomach out so it could start healing.

We've been struggling with this for My God, years. We started thinking early on there's probably some food issues involved and started experimenting with the removal of various foods. Never with any luck. Doctors (and we took both daughters to MANY!!!) told us "Don't worry they'll grow out of it. Till then just keep pumping this drug in them". Oh no no no no no... FINALLY we found a doctor who ran some food insensitivity tests on our second daughter. Turns out though she doesn't have celiac's, she is sensitive to gluten. Amongst other things. The "other things" include corn, soy, dairy, citrus, apples, and grapes just to name a small handful. Holy cow was it a long list.

We removed all the offending foods from our family's diet. This was NOT easy. And in no time flat, both children's symptoms disappeared. We found foods that are designed to help build GI health. It's taken a year, but we've slowly been able to reintroduce the offending foods one by one. It took a while for success to start, but with patience and diligence, we've gotten everything back on our daughters' diet but wheat. This one we're waiting a while before we start tackling it.

While all this was going on, we started finding loads of people - young and old - who have various food insensitivities. Most of them have pretty severe problems. One person can't have corn, rice, or gluten. Another can't have dairy. Many have celiac's. My daughter has had a classmate with celiacs in her last 2 years. And all our kids know people with peanut/treenut issues. A friend just contacted me to say her son was just diagnosed with celiac's. I've been giving her tips and tricks that we've been able to figure out over our difficult journey. It's what the old pros do with the terrified newbies.

This isn't a fad. This isn't some new weight loss diet. This isn't the cool new way to eat. This sure as sunshine isn't stylish.

This is difficult. It's occasionally nightmarish. It's battles and yelling. It's crying because your kids can't have what everybody else has. It's not understanding why what's happening is happening. It's missing endless time from work and school visiting one doctor after another. And being endlessly frustrated with the lack of answers. It's not being able to go to restaurants anymore. It's constantly worrying if the person who said, "Oh no, there's no dairy in that" really knows what the hell she's talking about. It's starting to feel queezy and wondering what you did wrong. It's spending 2 hours at a grocery that should only take 30 minutes because you have to read all the labels. On EVERYTHING. It's paying 4 times the price for gluten free pancake mix. It's going down a grocery's brand new "Gluten Free" aisle and noticing that much of their stuff isn't gluten free at all, and wondering what kind of screw up got put in charge of this. And in my family's case, it's sitting on my child's bed stroking her hair as she cries in pain, trying really hard to not let her realize I'm crying too.

Fad. I could only be so lucky.

trijoe

exactly. I wrote a big ole response but felt it wasn't worth my energy. nothing about GF is a fad. who in their right mind WANTS to go GF if they don't have to?

So true.

MsFree09

I think there are some people who treat it as a fad. Like it's some new lose weight quick scheme. I wholeheartedly disagree. Yes, once you eliminate breads and some processed foods, you will lose weight...that's common sense. But then your body adjusts. You find other ways to eat and other alternatives. The reason you think it's a hot topic is just because people are becoming more aware of it. 15 years ago my dad almost died because of the lack of knowledge. Yes, he got the emergency allergy shot at the hospital but they didn't know what caused it. So, what? He was just supposed to stop eating all together?

Now, I can go to Whole Foods and buy chocolate covered gluten free pretzels. I have at least 9 or 10 different types of gluten free flours in my kitchen because I have to find new ways to eat. You know that awesome tasting gravy you can put on mashed potatoes? Well sorry...I don't want to have a reaction because in order to make it thick, wheat flour was added.

So, I can totally see why you think it just came out of nowhere but trust me...it is no fad. At least not for the people who are genuinely suffering from it.

jillybeanpuff

being gluten free for people with Celiac's or intolerances is the same type of "fad" as people with diabetes not eating sugar. Our bodies can't process the gluten and it makes us sick. I hate being GF. It hasn't helped me lose weight and I get awful cravings for cake and cupcakes and real bread and pasta. Trust me, I don't think a sane person would go GF if it wasn't necessary. If you want to eat gluten, then eat it. I don't because I break out in hives and get anaphylaxis. Also, gluten is in 90% of foods that are processed. Soup, taco seasoning, any pastry, bread, I've seen it in sauces and all sorts of stuff.

mynameiscarrie

I have celiacs, so the benefits of not eating it means I don't get super bloated, I don't have stabbing pain in my stomach that makes it impossible to stand up straight, and I find it also makes my depression worse and I get angry easily.
I do agree with you about it being a fad though, some people seem to think that going gluten free will help you lose weight. I can tell you that this is NOT always the case. For some people it helps because it can get you away from overly processed foods, and if you are eating more whole foods, you are more likely to lose weight. BUT there are also a lot of gluten free processed foods too.
I have to say that I am kinda glad I can't eat gluten sometimes. I work in a fast food restaurant and it means that I can't eat our food. If I could I would be 300lbs by now lol

Edited to answer your question...gluten is in a lot more than just wheat. It can be found in canned soups, processed meats, yogurt, chicken/beef broths, toothpaste, lip balms, even medications. It's EVERYWHERE.

all of this... especially the part about how going GF doesn't help you to lose weight...

quill16

I have a true gluten allergy. I break out in a terrible itching rash and litterally suffered, itched and scrathed till I bled for years until I found the cause was gluten. When I went gluten free The itching stopped wwithin3 days and the rash diappeared within 2 weeks. I wish I would have known this years ago. I would eat gluten if I could as whole wheat grains (wheat, barley)provide good nutrition.

mynameiscarrie

I think there are some people who treat it as a fad. Like it's some new lose weight quick scheme. I wholeheartedly disagree. Yes, once you eliminate breads and some processed foods, you will lose weight...that's common sense. But then your body adjusts. You find other ways to eat and other alternatives. The reason you think it's a hot topic is just because people are becoming more aware of it. 15 years ago my dad almost died because of the lack of knowledge. Yes, he got the emergency allergy shot at the hospital but they didn't know what caused it. So, what? He was just supposed to stop eating all together?

Now, I can go to Whole Foods and buy chocolate covered gluten free pretzels. I have at least 9 or 10 different types of gluten free flours in my kitchen because I have to find new ways to eat. You know that awesome tasting gravy you can put on mashed potatoes? Well sorry...I don't want to have a reaction because in order to make it thick, wheat flour was added.

So, I can totally see why you think it just came out of nowhere but trust me...it is no fad. At least not for the people who are genuinely suffering from it.

My sister has celiacs as well and I agree with everything you said! Unfortunately, I know so many people who are GF for weight loss and it really irritates me. I think the OP was just saying that, unless you have an intolerance, why go GF?

honeyandmilk

There are only benefits if you have an intolerance/allergy to gluten.

What I don't understand is WHY people want to go GF. The people that are intolerant/allergic to it don't want to be; it's an absolute pain in the *kitten* to inspect everything to make sure it has no gluten or cross-contamination. You have to be really cautious or, if serious, you may end up in the hospital. People who have real issues with gluten don't do it to lose weight or because it makes them feel so energized/clear/amazing/etc. They do it because if they don't they'll be ill.

Going gluten-free otherwise is, as you said, a fad diet. And I seriously roll my eyes at anyone who does it just for funsies or because they read a random article, saw a documentary or other propaganda.