Wow, I got my head chewed off for suggesting that the incidence of gluten sensitivity is exaggerated

[Odin2005]

I suggested that it was just another hypochondriac food fad because less than 1% of Americans are diagnosed with Celiac Disease and yet everyone and their dog is talking about going gluten-free. Does not compute.

[SheilaT]

1. I am inclined to agree that it is way over

estimated, but I have learned not to post such things.

Many people are highly invested in their "disability" or whatever, and to try to tell them that they may be wrong is to bring the wrath of all the gods upon your head.

Plus, the "gluten free" crowd seems to revel in how difficult their lives are. If I learned I could no longer consume things that contain gluten I'd just do that, not consume them. Have you ever tasted "gluten free" pasta? OMG! It is dreadful beyond words. The one time I had it (visiting a friend whose husband was apparently unable to consume gluten) it was so awful that all I could think of was, why bother? There are lots of wonderful meals out there that don't require products containing gluten. I know I'd miss my bread and my brownies, but I'd live.

The very best meal I had last week was one that was a boneless chicken breast coated with mayonnaise and Parmesan cheese (sounds weird but was delicious) and sauteed veggies. Who needs anything containing gluten when meals like that are available?

[Odin2005]

2. I agree, the "gluten-free" fake-food is rather disgusting.

[Warpy]

3. No insurance = no allergist, alas

and it took me 5 years to track down an itchy pinprick rash. Naturally, I did all the sensible things like changing laundry detergents and bath soap 4 times before I even considered it could be a food or drug allergy. It took all that time because wheat was literally the last thing I thought could be the culprit since wheat allergy in adults is so rare as to be downright freakish.

But it did turn out to be wheat as a 2 week elimination confirmed. Imagine my disgust, a skeptic who thinks most people who are diagnosed by quack nutritionists as being gluten intolerant need a psychiatrist as well as a real GI doctor.

I don't have any symptoms of celiac disease and I don't have to be one of these freaks who insist their gluten free diet foods be produced in a factory that has never seen a single gram of wheat flour. My skin is much better and I itch a lot less when I avoid it. However, it's a massive pain in the ass to avoid since it's in so much we eat. I can't imagine glorying in it unless one is using a diet to bully friends and family, in which case staying away from wheat will soon be the most minor problem they have.

Eventually, Medicare will kick in and if I can find an allergist who will accept a Medicare patient, I'll get it confirmed. Until then, I'll just have to avoid the stuff and hope no more allergies pop up.

Oh, but I am getting one piece of birthday cake from a real bakery. Some things are worth itching for a week or so.

[Odin2005]

5. I often get itchy when I consume too much sugary foods and drinks.

I used to get nasty yeast infections in my armpits before I went cold turkey on soft drinks.

[TZ]

4. Most people do not want to do the actually diagnostic test for this

which is a colonoscopy basically. I was tested for this and came up negative. People just like to assume its an easy answer instead of doing the actual science here.

[salvorhardin]

9. There's a blood test too that's 90% accurate

There are a couple of antibodies that people with untreated CD produce, but you're right that the colonoscopy is the only way to a definitive diagnosis. IMHO, most people won't even have the blood work done. Cost is certainly a large factor.

[mr blur]

6. It may be axaggerated, but,

I certainly felt an improvement when I went on a gluten-free diet to try to fight the MS.

All to do with foodstuffs whose chemical structure can be mistaken for something else by the immune system, which is constantly attacking me.

[Goldom]

7. My partner has a friend

who was convinced she was allergic to gluten with no testing. So she went on a gluten-free diet on a whim, and surprise, it had no effect. She decided she'd stay on it anyway, just to be "safe."

[Odin2005]

8. Hence my reference to hypochondriacs.

[lizerdbits]

10. I wonder

If people just generally feel better after they stop eating a lot of white flour, especially if it's accompanied by a lot of sugar in baked goods. That's assuming they're replacing those foods with wheatless whole/real foods instead of horrid gluten free baked goods, which in recipes I've seen are primarily rice flour and cornstarch, though I've seen some bean flours too. This is partially based on my personal vacation anecdotes where I generally don't eat as well (more white flour baked goods) and often feel a general 'blah'. When I cook for myself and include more fruit, veggies, and beans, I feel pretty good. But again, that's pretty anecdotal. And I know plenty of people who eat processed crap all the time and seem to feel fine.

I went to an allergist and came up as allergic to wheat, dairy and soy after having a lot of GI issues. After eliminating all 3, I tried each one separately with almost week in between each attempt. Only the wheat gave me problems, and the symptoms weren't typical of Celiac. My sister had the same problems around the same time. She was home with 2 small kids all day and expecting a 3rd. I was very unhappy at work and had an abusive boss. A couple months after getting a new job I have Christmas cookies thinking I'll just deal with it for 3 days but had no bad effects. I try more wheat, and I have since not had any problems. One friend is convinced it was stress related (even sent me an article on stress increasing the permeability of tight junctions in mouse intestinal epithelium), but there's no way to know with certainty what was going on. My sister didn't go to an allergist since they don't normally test pregnant women, and with 3 little ones she's probably not going anytime soon. She just avoids wheat.

[LeftishBrit]

11. I think some of it is that some people have health problems for which they grasp at 'gluten-free' as

a straw; and may interpret this as not only taking away their straw, but implying that their health problems are not genuine. And having just had a big row with someone in a certain forum who thinks that ALL health problems are essentially just a matter of your personal choice, I can see how people can get upset if they think that someone's implying that they've invented or chosen their medical problems.

I had all sorts of health problems as a child which were not diagnosed, and sometimes considered as imaginary, and at one point the *doctor* suggested that I might be sensitive to gluten. I wasn't, and going gluten-free didn't work. What I did have was Crohn's, which was eventually diagnosed after I'd had it for about 10 years (in those days doctors thought kids couldn't get it, so hadn't tested for it).

Also, I think there's a tendency for some people to assume that if a certain diet or medication is helpful to people with a particular condition, it must be good for *everyone* - e.g. if vitamin C supplements are beneficial to those with a deficiency of this vitamin, then they must be a cure-all.

That being said, some people do find that reducing gluten in their diet helps them. Never helped me, as I said.