Why gluten-free?

I really enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts and insights. As a celiac/sprue person, I wanted to clear something up about testing for celiac's disease. A blood test for celiac disease will likely come out negative if you have stopped eating gluten for sometime prior to testing. Additionally a positive blood test should be followed up with a biopsy for positive confirmation.


Blood Tests
People with celiac disease have higher than normal levels of certain autoantibodies—proteins that react against the body's own cells or tissues—in their blood. To diagnose celiac disease, doctors will test blood for high levels of anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies (tTGA) or anti-endomysium antibodies (EMA). If test results are negative but celiac disease is still suspected, additional blood tests may be needed.
Before being tested, one should continue to eat a diet that includes foods with gluten, such as breads and pastas. If a person stops eating foods with gluten before being tested, the results may be negative for celiac disease even if the disease is present.
Intestinal Biopsy
If blood tests and symptoms suggest celiac disease, a biopsy of the small intestine is performed to confirm the diagnosis. During the biopsy, the doctor removes tiny pieces of tissue from the small intestine to check for damage to the villi. To obtain the tissue sample, the doctor eases a long, thin tube called an endoscope through the patient's mouth and stomach into the small intestine. The doctor then takes the samples using instruments passed through the endoscope.

^^ I debated putting my comment on because I knew there'd be those that didn't believe what I said, and I can't be bothered defending it or arguing. What I will say is this - you wouldn't stick with GF/wheat free crap-*kitten* bread for 14 years if you weren't SURE it helped.

When you've suffered through real allergies, have had to give yourself shots as child, and endured hundreds of injections, I'll sympathize. I call B.S. on your story. Food allergies only make you angry when the stop you from breathing.

Actually there is quite a bit of evidence especially with coeliac that gluten can affect your mood. I know if I've eaten thats been contaminated I get very moody. Coeliac has many ranging symptom - many nothing to do with IBS type symptoms. When I go diagnosed as a toddler the think was at the time that I would grow out of it. At the end of 7 under medical supervision I was put back on gluten. By the time I was 16 i was being treated for arthritis in my hips and knees. When my GP twigged that I'd been diagnosed with coeliac at 2 he put me back on the gluten free diet and the arthritis cleared up.

I just love the mentality that if it didn't happen to you or someone you know, it can't possibly be true. We're not all built from the same template so we can't all have the same experiences with stuff. If you aren't going to be open minded enough to understand that, you should probably refrain from posting on these kinds of posts.

My experience started with nerve pain as well. I had a sciatica that wouldn't quit. I was seeing my chiropractor 3x per week having chiropractic adjustment after chiropractic adjustment, ART treatment after ART treatment. I'd dealt with sciatica for YEARS - having gone through 3 chiropractors trying to find a fix. One uses electrostimulation, one recommended PT, one just adjusted my SI joint all the time. My current chiropractor worked and worked. Finally, after 3 months of working on me, she looked at me and told me that there was nothing else she could do for me and my only other option was to change my diet. She challenged me to give up gluten, sugar and dairy for 2 weeks as a trial. I did. Replacing gluten containing foods with gluten-free alternatives (mostly pasta). In that two weeks, my sciatic pain went away and I lost 11 lbs. I went back to my previous ways and was back to the chiropractor on an excessive basis. I decided to try it again - this time going a bit further and eliminating more inflammatory foods. Within 2 weeks, again, my sciatic pain disappeared.

I don't know if the culprit is gluten or sugar b/c I usually eliminate both and reintroduce both at the same time (hello, holidays) but when I do, the sciatic pain comes back and it's unenjoyable enough that I don't mind giving up bread and pasta and Whoppers candies to feel better. It's kind of nice being able to stand, sit, and lay in any position and actually feel comfortable.

And as a source of reference, I only see the chiropractor once every 6 weeks now, rather than 3x per week.

So, just because it hasn't happened to you doesn't mean it isn't true or there isn't some form of validity to it. We're all different and have different experiences.

Read the book Grain Brain, by Dr David Perlmutter. Here's a section from a book review that describes the gluten problem:

"What Perlmutter brings to the table is the idea that gluten teams up with high blood sugar to wreck the brain. The presence of high blood sugar, he explains, causes a reaction throughout the body called glycation, which he describes as "the biological process whereby glucose, proteins, and certain fats become tangled together, causing tissues and cells to become stiff and inflexible, including those in the brain."

In the brain, he explains, "sugar molecules and brain proteins combine to create deadly new structures that contribute more than any other factor to the degeneration of the brain and its functioning...this is made worse when powerful antigens [a substance that triggers an immunological response] like gluten accelerate the damage. "

Glycation can't be entirely avoided, but high blood sugar, as found in diabetics, he writes, exacerbates it. Where blood sugar is high, the brain (and other bodily structures) is constantly bathed in a glycating sugar bath. Recent studies show that having diabetes doubles one's risk of contracting Alzheimer's disease, he points out. The growing understanding of the connection between the two diseases has prompted some researchers to suggest that Alzheimer's be re-labeled "Type-3 Diabetes."

"The origin of brain disease is primarily dietary," he concludes, and not hereditary, as is most commonly assumed. Gluten, by triggering the immune system, causes inflammation in the brain, which encourages the brain's glycation by sugar circulating in the blood.

Perlmutter also presents evidence that some gluten breakdown products are in an endorphin-like class of molecules called exorphins, which are addictive. ".

And not one study in cite . . .

LOL what the heck is a brain protein? Serious people really believe that? Wow, P.T. Barnum was right. I'm writing a book I'm going to call it Insulin: silent killer.

Brain proteins = proteins in the brain. Yes, they do exist. It's not fiction.

I didn't see a chiropractor for nutrition advice. I saw her for a back issue. She suggested I reduce my inflammation to reduce my pain - as any doctor would suggest. I checked with my osteopath and she confirmed that gluten, sugar and dairy can cause inflammation and agreed that I should give diet a shot. Neither were surprised when I reported back without pain.

But no matter what, *I* feel better without gluten than I do with gluten so I choose not to consume it. It shouldn't matter to you what I do, why I do it, or who suggested it - no one is forcing it on you. The OP asked why those without an allergy would eat gluten free. I am indicating that I eat gluten free to be pain free and explained why.

Most people who don't like an idea will just avoid the topic - opting to discuss things they agree with... you, on the other hand, are arguing that an idea you don't like is wrong when you have no basis for why it is wrong - you've never tried it - or at the very least have not indicated that you have tried it - so you have no experience to back up your disbelief. You're just arguing for the sake of arguing. Do you have nothing better with your time than troll the message boards and try to belittle people? Get a damn life.

You amuse me. Thanks for the entertainment!

You amuse me. Thanks for the entertainment!

I'm glad that you're able to get a chuckle out of someone's health issues. Maybe if you go out today someone will fall and break a leg so you can get a full belly laugh in.

That's not nearly as entertaining as watching someone with little education attempt to defend pseudoscience. That said, if you want to go break a leg, don't let me stop you.

You amuse me. Thanks for the entertainment!

I'm glad that you're able to get a chuckle out of someone's health issues. Maybe if you go out today someone will fall and break a leg so you can get a full belly laugh in.

That's not nearly as entertaining as watching someone with little education attempt to defend pseudoscience. That said, if you want to go break a leg, don't let me stop you.

I didn't see anyone anywhere in this whole thread say that everyone should eat gluten free or that it was appropriate for anyone other than themselves. I'm not sure why you feel that anyone needs to defend their choices to you or anyone else. If I feel better not eating gluten I don't have to defend my position or provide any science to back it up.

If I eat foods with gluten I feel like crap with a myriad of issues. If I don't eat gluten I feel good. The last thing I want to be is gluten intolerant. It's a royal pain in the *kitten* but that's the way it is. I don't care about the science or anyone's approval. We may not all be a well educated genius like yourself but we know how we feel and that's enough.

I really enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts and insights. As a celiac/sprue person, I wanted to clear something up about testing for celiac's disease. A blood test for celiac disease will likely come out negative if you have stopped eating gluten for sometime prior to testing. Additionally a positive blood test should be followed up with a biopsy for positive confirmation.


Blood Tests
People with celiac disease have higher than normal levels of certain autoantibodies—proteins that react against the body's own cells or tissues—in their blood. To diagnose celiac disease, doctors will test blood for high levels of anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies (tTGA) or anti-endomysium antibodies (EMA). If test results are negative but celiac disease is still suspected, additional blood tests may be needed.
Before being tested, one should continue to eat a diet that includes foods with gluten, such as breads and pastas. If a person stops eating foods with gluten before being tested, the results may be negative for celiac disease even if the disease is present.
Intestinal Biopsy
If blood tests and symptoms suggest celiac disease, a biopsy of the small intestine is performed to confirm the diagnosis. During the biopsy, the doctor removes tiny pieces of tissue from the small intestine to check for damage to the villi. To obtain the tissue sample, the doctor eases a long, thin tube called an endoscope through the patient's mouth and stomach into the small intestine. The doctor then takes the samples using instruments passed through the endoscope.

You amuse me. Thanks for the entertainment!

I'm glad that you're able to get a chuckle out of someone's health issues. Maybe if you go out today someone will fall and break a leg so you can get a full belly laugh in.

That's not nearly as entertaining as watching someone with little education attempt to defend pseudoscience. That said, if you want to go break a leg, don't let me stop you.

I didn't see anyone anywhere in this whole thread say that everyone should eat gluten free or that it was appropriate for anyone other than themselves. I'm not sure why you feel that anyone needs to defend their choices to you or anyone else. If I feel better not eating gluten I don't have to defend my position or provide any science to back it up.

If I eat foods with gluten I feel like crap with a myriad of issues. If I don't eat gluten I feel good. The last thing I want to be is gluten intolerant. It's a royal pain in the *kitten* but that's the way it is. I don't care about the science or anyone's approval. We may not all be a well educated genius like yourself but we know how we feel and that's enough.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but are you not defending your position?

I didn't try to defend pseudoscience... I tried to defend my reason for being gluten free. If you don't like it, so be it. I'm not here for your approval. If you don't want to be gluten-free - don't be. Eat your whole wheat bread and your cream puffed pastries and poptarts. Enjoy. Please. And be thankful you can b/c some of us can't.

Mokey41 is right - being gluten free is a giant pain in the *kitten* - especially around the holidays when no one else in the world is. Especially on those nights when you've had a really rough day at work and all you want to do is order pizza and relax. Or pull out a box of Mac & Cheese and veg... can't be done with ease. Gluten is hidden everywhere making it difficult to eat out without repercussions, or to eat at a family member's house without asking what's in it and not being able to eat anything because they didn't know flour was off limits or that cream of mushroom soup has wheat in it...

The OP asked why we'd eat gluten free if not allergic... we answered. You keep coming back at us and telling us the science is flawed or our reasons are flawed. No they aren't. YOU don't have issues with gluten so you don't see the point. Great. You're a lucky SOB... we aren't. And your attacks make us feel like we have to defend. It's our choice if we eat gluten free or not and we're not trying to convince you to do the same. We simply wanted to answer the OP's question.

My tTGA and EMA were so high, and my ferritin level so low on iron supplements that they didn't bother with the biopsy. My metabolic panels were all out of range on the low end as well. They knew my intestines were not absorbing the nutrients in my food. I got a phone call to stop eating gluten immediately and 6 weeks later, the tTGA and EMA were still high, but coming down. Two years later, I just got my first normal metabolic panels in 7+ years. Celiac is a witch. Really, totally, forever avoiding all gluten is hard. I really don't know why anyone would do that as a fad.

I bake a lot of my own GF stuff to control the amount of sugar/sodium and limit the "tastes like cardboard", but I do buy Glutino multi grain sandwich bread - which is good toasted and doesn't have as much sugar and a loaf lasts me two weeks stored in the fridge. I also buy Udi's bagels because I don't want to be bothered with making bagels -- I wasn't good at that with wheat; I'm afraid to try it without.

If you can eat it and it doesn't bother you, EAT IT. When I eat it, I look pregnant, feel lethargic, and clog toilets. I gave it up before it was super trendy, but my instinct is that this is an issue for a lot of people, since everyone I know who's given it up for the sake of the trend tends to feel better. This could merely be because giving up an ingredient that is in pretty much everything that's packaged FORCES you to have a really clean, unprocessed diet, or just to have better general awareness of what's going into your body, which will obviously make you feel better than your diet of easy-mac. But then again, I'm not one who tries to substitute (in my opinion, gluten free breads usually taste like gravel). If you do substitute with g free alternatives, they tend to be higher in calories and crap than the regular kind, and that's certainly not a path to health.

I cannot believe the neg talk and outright attacks. Seriously guys. If you don't suffer from allergies, count your lucky stars. But I kindly ask you not to cruelly attack those trying to help others. If you beg to differ and have a valid point with proof, then state it in an educated manner. If anything, it will enhance the validity of the point you are trying to make.

I have three personal observations on this issue:

1)

I see people buying a bevy of gluten-free processed foods in the grocery stores, which I would caution people to avoid eating. If you pick up the boxes and look at their list of ingredients, many times you will see tons of man-made substrates and all sorts of sophisticated chemicals. This advice goes for both gluten-free and non gluten-free processed foods. My advice is to eat REAL food, if it doesn't resemble what it looked like coming from animal or plant sources, then don't buy it, as it will likely cause damage to your health (wether acute or long range).

2)

What I observe in people is varying degrees of food allergies. For example, I know people who will literally die if they ingest a single peanut, while others get mild asthma symptoms after eating a handful of them. I believe that gluten sensitivity can be similar, with some people developing full blown diseases like celiac, and others mild symptoms like a bit of digestive discomfort. I have conducted a test on myself, where I eliminated wheat from my diet, and noticed that digestive discomfort was eliminated. What I did not prove however is whether it was the gluten in the wheat, or something else in the wheat. I would have to redo the experiment with gluten protein (and no wheat) to officially claim gluten sensitivity. The message here is everybody is different - and the more you pay attention to your symptoms, the better off you are attaining optimal health.

3)

I observe a growing amount of literature from doctors who specialize in wheat and gluten sensitivity. I don't think it is a bad thing to keep an open, curious mind, and keep up with the literature. Of course, always keep a sense of critical perspective, and pay attention to any hypothesis that was presented without it being adequately tested via rigorous methods.

I think when one looks behind a gluten "sensitivity" claim, you'll usually find the claimant has taken advice from a chiropractor, osteopath or other alt-med practitioner. You know, non-evidence based pseudoscience.

My medical doctor diagnosed me with gluten sensitivity.

Which is why I used the modifier "usually".

Gluten..........the new blame child.

^^^^ this

it's much easier for people to blame being overweight on a popularly demonised food, than just say "well I'm fat because I eat too much and I'm not very active".......

noooooo............ it wasn't me, I'm not responsible, it was the wheat!!!!!

I`m not overweight, never have been by more than 30 lbs. I am gluten intolerant, wasn't diagnosed by a chiropractor either. Since some of you think a gluten intolerance is all in our heads or a fad let me fill you in on the delights of what happens when I eat gluten.

It starts off with a rumbling and cramps, progresses to severe cramping and bloating, moves on to either diarrhea or large, foul smelling, oily bowel movements that often contain a lot of mucus and possibly blood. Before I knew what the issue was my guts had gotten so inflamed my abdomen was actually sore to touch. Some lesser side effects are headache, joint pain, sinus pressure, rash, incontinence and anemia. I know it`s just my imagination because I have no science to impress you with but I honestly wouldn't wish it on anyone. If I eat something with gluten in it I'm usually about 3 days feeling like crap before I get back to normal.

The world is not made for the gluten intolerant so getting glutened happens quite often and I pretty much cook everything from scratch because gluten is hidden in just about all processed foods. It's not just looking for wheat on a label but a whole list of other things that contain gluten and if that isn't enough a lot of foods I can eat are processed in plants that process wheat so they've been contaminated. Restaurants have very little grip on the whole issue so eating out is always a gamble.

I hope all of the pompous *kitten* who think it's funny or that we're all hypochondriacs looking for an excuse for something never have experience any of this. If you really want to have a giggle you could come over and spend some time with my granddaughter when she's been accidentally glutened by someone. She's been celiac since birth and you really haven't lived until you've had to try to clean the bottom of a baby who has huge sores because her poop is so toxic it eats the skin off.

Because free will