Why do people chose to eat gluten free?

Hi - I am also a coeliac and I too find it difficult to understand why people would choose to eat gluten free ift hey don't have to! I know some people at intolerant to gluten and can see why they chose a gluten free diet, and I can understand the reason behind vegetarianism as a choice - but given freedom of choice I would readily eat gluten if i could.

I don't understand this diet fad either if you don't have a medical reason to be gluten free - as long as what you are consuming is healthy in the first place of course.

I did start getting a couple gluten free items the past couple months though, like bread. Only because I don't like eating processed carbs with a bunch of crap in them, & I don't like the texture of some whole grain stuff.

isn't that book "Wheatbelly" behind this fad? people are easily misled by junk science and that book is full of it.

http://noglutennoproblem.blogspot.com/2012/03/wheat-belly-busted.html

when it comes to the need to label some foods as "bad" so that all problems can be blamed on those foods, there is a term for that...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthorexia_nervosa

if people need to avoid gluten for medical reasons, then that's fine. but when people avoid it because they fear it and then blame it for all of their health problems, absent an actual medical diagnosis, then i think they are likely exhibiting orthorexic behavior.

For me and my wife we find that if we stick to gluten free, we fart much less! LOL!

I guess we have bacteria in our guts that thrive on gluten. When we eat it, we fart, when we don't, we dont!

So that's one reason why we chose to be gluten free, neither of us is coeliac.

I also think that our bodies struggle to digest gluten

No idea. BUT my friend was having stomach issues (she is already really thin) and decided to cut out dairy and gluten to see if it would help and she dropped another 15lbs! And I thought, "Damn! I should try that!"

I was diagnosed with hashimotos thyroiditis (autoinmune disease), and my doctor recommended to go gluten free, I have noticed a huge improvement in my digestion

For some it's not a choice. I have psoriasis. Most books advise little to no gluten and or sugar, even though there is no scientific evidence to back that claim. Other than an eating disorder or other medical condition I don't know why anyone would choose to go gluten free. It's a huge learning curve

I am for the most part avoiding wheat and by implication similar grains, this came about because I discovered it can contribute to various forms of in-digestive issues. It comes down to the way wheat is broken down into sugar and it is the sugar which is causing the problem because it can in some ferment creating wind and or griping etc.

I discovered all this because I was introduced to the "low fodmap" system of eating, which in general is best followed with the help of a dietitian. (Low fodmap, sets out to address the issues of sugar absorption in its various forms) I also made reference to several IBS, irritable bowel sites. IBS seems to be a term which covers any food related issue from start to finish, from frequency to constipation some of which can be related to, guess what, sugar absorption issues.

For me this is just another pointer enabling me to progress towards good health only a few years ago I was racked with joint and muscle pain and that is another story

Why does it matter what other people eat? Why do some people feel the need to pour some thinly veiled scorn on folks that choose to eat in a way which has no impact on anyone else's life in any way? I don't know where this food bigotry came from but it's rife among weight loss/fitness communities and I think it's bizarre, unnecessary and totally non productive.