95% of Americans have Gluten Sensitivity & causes wt gain.

The Gluten-Free Industry is a $6 billion dollar market and growing. Just something to think about.

I weep for the future. I'm pretty sure all this gluten crap is BS. My grandparents survived concentration camps, WWII, and the Great Depression, all the while eating gluten. People just like blaming other things and people for their own problems they think they have. Suck it up, stop thinking about it and carry one. Thank you.

I weep for the future. I'm pretty sure all this gluten crap is BS. My grandparents survived concentration camps, WWII, and the Great Depression, all the while eating gluten. People just like blaming other things and people for their own problems they think they have. Suck it up, stop thinking about it and carry one. Thank you.

So what was the life expectancy of someone who was born in say 1920 compared with someone born in 2012? Do you think that science has made improvements since then in people's health? (Unless you're trolling...).

*Trying to ignore all the negative stuff and focus on the topic, despite the original post flub* :flowerforyou:

I've worked with numerous specialists in nutrition, autism spectrum disorders, behavioral health, and the list continues to grow as I try to gain a better understanding of how something as simple as a protein digested can impact my son's health. As a parent, when numerous specialists say: "Have you tried removing gluten from his diet?" You try it. You want to do everything you can for you child so you do it. Then you research it to death because you try to comprehend the "why" is this happening question.

For my son, after removing gluten from his diet when he was three his digestive issues completely disappeared. He was nursed for a year and I didn't introduce baby food until he was 6 months old. I couldn't comprehend how after doing everything "I was supposed to do" that he still had crazy tummy issues. I was all about organic/probiotics, whole wheat/whole grains when we did move to food. I was at the doctor's office all the time. He was vomiting every single night between 2 and 5 am. His MD said "it's 'likely' acid reflux." That didn't add up for me, but tried the script--didn't work. I tried eliminating dairy, soy, you name it, I tried it! It was incredibly frustrating (and expensive).

As my son started preschool the differences between he and his peers started to become visible. His behavior was consistent to a spectrum disorder: i.e., scripting (memorizing something and continuously repeating it over and over again), fleeting eyes, odd hand movements, terrible mood swings, withdrawing to his own little play world, odd interactions with people, inability to express pain when he felt it (ear infections), fine and gross motor delays. I can continue, but you get it. Despite that list, he memorized everything and was reading at three. I think I was tuning out everything and just focused on him being a great reader and ability to memorize everything. I'm an optimist! His preschool stepped in though and thought it best to have him tested. I agreed. There was too much happening that I didn't understand and knew it was best.

I never connected the dots between his diet issues and his behavior issues: who would?

We started screening, seeing specialists, began intervention, and then a panel of experts recommended that I remove the gluten from my son's diet. I tried it. Within two weeks it was like my son came out of this fog. Digestive issues? Gone. Above listed spectrum symptoms? Greatly improved over the first few months: I kept a log. One thing I learned: log everything!

I went gluten free with my son because he's my partner in crime and it's just easier for me to manage. I lost a few pounds, but as with many changes in diet your body adjusts so I gained the few pounds back once my body adapted to the change. I have no food allergies or sensitivities.

The companies on board with advertising gluten free products?! HOORAY!!! Hopefully that will help decrease the cost for those of us spending more than double of what it costs for typical, every day groceries: supply and demand. The demand is increasing (unfortunately because spectrum disorders are increasing), but the prices are still so high. The more companies on board the better for those of us with children who cannot properly digest gluten. My son can now have Rice Krispies Treats! Score!

The answer to "why" we're experiencing an increase in spectrum disorders, food allergies, and how food and environment impacts these fields is still developing and relatively new. I'm very much interested in it. It's frustrating when you're in it because of all the unknowns. Do know that it is not an easy process to obtain a spectrum disorder diagnosis. It took us--and I'm sure the majority of other parents--about a year as it should. Then you get a second opinion and a third if necessary. Most experts on spectrum disorders will advise you to try a gluten free, casein free diet. Casein is found in dairy.

So, although the original post was related to diet and gluten, hopefully this post sheds some light on how significant of an impact gluten CAN have on an individual outside of weight loss. I was hesitant on posting this because it was pretty personal, but if our experience can help even one parent going through the same then it was worth it.

A lot of sandwiches and pasta dishes, cereals. Pretty much every meal I was eating wheat. I first cut out HFCS and foods with preservatives because I was having so many digestive issues I was tested for Chrons and ulcerative colitis, my body basically cannot break down highly processed foods. I get terrible stomach cramps, like, knock you off your feet off the charts painful. I have a very sensitive stomach, sometimes even drinking water I will get stomach cramps, it's just something I've always dealt with. I also cut out enriched bleached flour, which helped, but I'm still having symptoms that are sometimes attributed to celiacs or gluten intolerance like migraines, cramps, digestive problems and the like. I'm still in the process of going gluten free though. I'm transitioning into it because it's so damn expensive and Im a broke *kitten* college student.

I have opted to cut out gluten as well. I am not quite a broke *kitten* college student, but just some things to think about. You don't have to buy the gluten-free counterparts to bread and pasta. They do cost more and are higher in calories than the regular ones. Just cut out bread and pasta completely. There are Larabars and Luna bars that are gluten free. I keep a box around for the occasional snack. And for cereal, Chex has a good variety of GF flavors. I used to eat the Cinnamon ones out of the box lol. But it is possible to avoid buying tons of "special" products.

Some statistics I'd like to see are:

How many that have seen digestive improvements with cutting out gluten went from eating minimally processed whole grains with gluten to eating no gluten vs. how many went from eating overly processed grains to eating no gluten

How many who were eating overly processed gluten grains such as white bread and pasta tried switching to overly processed non-gluten products such as white rice bread or pasta and had good results.

It seems that on all the "grains are evil", "gluten is evil" or "carbs are evil" posts I've seen, people who gave them up were not eating whole grain before they did. That sounds more like "overly processed carbs are evil" to me.

So to those of you that think it doesn't exist, or its over diagnosed, believe me, it does exist and probably is under diagnosed because most of us don't have truthful conversations with our drs!

Some statistics I'd like to see are:

How many that have seen digestive improvements with cutting out gluten went from eating minimally processed whole grains with gluten to eating no gluten vs. how many went from eating overly processed grains to eating no gluten

How many who were eating overly processed gluten grains such as white bread and pasta tried switching to overly processed non-gluten products such as white rice bread or pasta and had good results.

It seems that on all the "grains are evil", "gluten is evil" or "carbs are evil" posts I've seen, people who gave them up were not eating whole grain before they did. That sounds more like "overly processed carbs are evil" to me.

My transition was from minimally processed whole grains to no grains (and as a result, gluten free). In other words, I went from a mostly real food diet *with* grains to a mostly real food diet *without* grains. I would characterize the "digestive improvements" as extraordinary.

Is it the gluten? Is it the lectins? Is it some magical universal blessing because I stopped harming the totally innocent wheat plant? Is it something else? No idea. Oh, don't get me wrong, I have my own personal theories on it, but can I say definitely that I know why? Absolutely not...and I'm okay with that.

About six months into my no grains/legumes/added sugar/soy/etc. journey where I experienced all of these improvements to my health, I had a substantial portion of plain old dead flour noodles in a hamburger casserole...and you know how my body reacted to it? Exactly...absolutely no response whatsoever (and it was freakin' delicious too...Mom's always been an awesome cook.) Completely fine. Am I now going to start eating grains as a regularly part of my diet? Absolutely not. (But why would I given how nutritionally weak grains are.)

A few weeks before this noodle experience, I also had my first regular dairy in a long time...a small bowl of homemade ice cream...so delicious...and my stomach blew up like a balloon and I was miserable for hours. Obviously, I also won't be adding regular dairy back into my diet either.

What does this mean for everyone else? No idea. Do what you want. But for me? I think I'll continue doing what works (for whatever reason) instead of doing what doesn't work (for whatever reason). Makes sense to me.


(EDIT: because there should always be an equal number of open and close parentheses...it's the law.)