[JustCan]

Ellen Degeneres said on her show on Friday June 5th that she has been gluten free for two weeks and feels much better. The "expert" she has on talked about intestinal damage but didn't actually name celiac disease. They did mention rice pasta and some other foods.

[missy'smom]

I saw that. Unfortunately, she just said one sentence about damage. It was almost like she thew it in there because she knew that she should be resonsible. I thought that the way it was presented, as a trendy diet and cleanse, is not good. But most people I guess who are doing the gluten-free diet this way probably aren't eliminating all gluten. That's another problem though. Going about it this way, they aren't getting educated enough. Of course, I haven't seen the book to see how well things are spelled out. My hair dresser's husband has an official Dx of celiac disease(as a child) but is so misinformed because they get their info. from sources that tend to put out misinformation about gluten and celiac disease, instead of sources like the national celiac disease groups or other reputable medical sources. I cringe when I hear what he eats because there's a history in his family of serious illness from this, and he even eats gluten occasionally, because he doesn't understand the consequences. When I had a conversation about gluten with a lady who runs the nutrition programs at my son's school, because of an event and me needing to make arrangements for kiddo, she said, oh yes, she was familiar with gluten but wasn't aware that cross-contamination was a problem. I gave her a very brief explanation of how the immune system reacts to gluten and what the consequences of this disease going untreated are and that opened her eyes. She's a cancer survivor so I know she got it after that. We need more solid facts and good info. to get out! This has been talked about here time and time again. It's great to get the word out but... Just my 2cents.

[FMcGee]

Yeah, I hear you. I completely adore Ellen, so I'm hoping she'll speak up about celiac disease and present the facts accurately, but misinformation is bad. I know that "all publicity is good publicity" and all that, but when it comes to health issues, I don't think that's actually true. People buy into way too many myths about their health anyway (diet pills, seriously?) that people with platforms to speak on these issues should work for accuracy and clarity when talking about, well, anything, really!

[Crayons574]

I was so excited that the words "gluten free" came out of Ellen Degeneres mouth! I never thought I'd see the day. Maybe we can all write into her website and say how great it was for her guest to talk about gluten and how important it is to raise awareness of Celiac Disease.

[shirleyujest]

JustCan, on Jun 6 2009, 04:59 AM, said:

Ellen Degeneres said on her show on Friday June 5th that she has been gluten free for two weeks and feels much better. The "expert" she has on talked about intestinal damage but didn't actually name celiac disease. They did mention rice pasta and some other foods.

Do we know for sure whether Ellen has celiac disease or just g intolerance? Maybe she was just addressing allergies or maybe our general overdependence on wheat? Just guessin, didn't see the show. I too am an Ellen fan. Her show is pretty light in tone though, don't think she delves deeply into diseases the way for instance Oprah does.

[FMcGee]

Crayons574, on Jun 6 2009, 12:36 PM, said:

I was so excited that the words "gluten free" came out of Ellen Degeneres mouth! I never thought I'd see the day. Maybe we can all write into her website and say how great it was for her guest to talk about gluten and how important it is to raise awareness of Celiac Disease.

I think writing in to her website is a great idea! I'm in. She's a pretty outspoken lady, so I'd think she could be outspoken on this, too!

[JustCan]

Thanks everybody. I totally agree that misinformation is dangerous. I don't think Ellen is celiac, I think she's just doing the diet to be healthier since she's also vegan. Writing into the show is a good idea. Like most of you, I worry that as this diet gets more mainstream, the risk of cross contamination will be even greater due to the lack of understanding. Still nice to hear it get some attention though.

[sixtytwo]

Not too crazy about the person that wrote "celiac or JUST g intolerance". Doesn't make much difference as those of us who are JUST g intolerant have to eat the same way as the celiac people, only thing is, ours got caught before there was damage. I eat the same foods that celiac people do as I don't want to become one or get sick (actually I do get sick with different symptoms as those in the know will attest too...there can be many strange reaction to gluten). I just feel so much better and safer when I do not eat gluten. I was diagnosed through Enterolab and consider those tests to be valid. Barbara

[Korwyn]

missy'smom, on Jun 6 2009, 05:55 AM, said:

...I thought that the way it was presented, as a trendy diet and cleanse, is not good. But most people I guess who are doing the gluten-free diet this way probably aren't eliminating all gluten. That's another problem though. Going about it this way, they aren't getting educated enough.

I have found that too. Someone at work who said she is gluten-free brought a gluten-free pasta to a BBQ, which made me happy, but I was sitting next to her and she was eating a bunch of random non-gluten-free desserts! She saw me eying them kinda suspiciously and said she knew she shouldn't have them, but they were so good! I don't know what my facial expression was but she asked me, "Oh, you never cheat?" with a surprised kinda tone. Which made me start to really worry cross-contamination and how gluten-free her salad really was. I was really fortunate that it was OK since I'd already eaten it. But I realized then (and after talking with a few other people) that a lot of people are doing it as a 'fad' diet. Part of me is glad for this, especially as I do more research and reading about the effects of gluten on our bodies psychological and physiological health but another part finds it scary because most of them misleadingly represent themselves as 'gluten-free', not realize that for all of us that with celiac disease or GI, it is a serious health risk.

[TiffLuvsBread]

I have a friend whose father is eating gluten-free and when we talked about it (I was so excited! A friend that would understand me!) he said: "oh, he doesn't know what gluten is, he just thinks gluten-free stuff is health food because it's in the organic section at Dierbergs."

Ugh. Awesome. I talked to him about it a little bit and he says: "Oh.... ya... he definitely doesn't have issues he just likes eating health food."

OK, for the 3rd time, it's not "HEALTH FOOD!"

Now from acquaintences I constantly get: "Ugh no carbs!? How do you do it!!" Um, I eat carbs, and I'm not eating that bread because I can't?"

Or: "I should eat the way you are eating! Much healthier! Must be why you are so skinny."

Because I was having a salad - while we were at a pizza place.

I agree with all of you that Ellen's message might have been misleading as a health-fad because I'll tell ya the impression out there right now is just that. It's just a new diet. Cross contamination from misunderstanding the severity is dangerous, but maybe it will also help bring gluten-free more mainstream and allow us to find more options easier (and eventually cheaper?). As long as they are truely gluten-free..

[munchkinette]

I think awareness about what it is in general is good. Some people don't even know what gluten is and why it can be a problem. It's a start.

I've also noticed reluctance to start the diet just because of the attitude like "OMG I CAN"T LIVE WITHOUT BREAD AND PASTA." My mother is one. She's been low gluten since my brother and I started our diets. It's frustrating. HER mother is the one who had all the autoimmune diseases and stuff. FINALLY after 3 years my mother decided to go gluten free for real. It's progress!

[OptimisticMom42]

Maybe Ellen just doesn't want to be as open on national TV as we are on this site about poop

I hadn't thought about the fad diet/contamination issue. I can just see a greedy manufacturer laughing and saying, "It's not really gluten free, we just write that on the box so they'll buy it. Gluten doesn't really make anyone sick. It's all in thier heads."

That would be really dangerous for those who have healed to the point where their bodies aren't screaming with every bite of gluten. They could be eating it for years without knowing it.

[Angels~Exist]

Another issue with the fad diet is that people might stop taking celiac disease seriously. They might go on the diet then go off of it a week later and say that it isn't that hard because they weren't really cutting out all the gluten.

[darlindeb25]

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Do we know for sure whether Ellen has celiac disease or just g intolerance?

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Not too crazy about the person that wrote "celiac or JUST g intolerance". Doesn't make much difference as those of us who are JUST g intolerant have to eat the same way as the celiac people, only thing is, ours got caught before there was damage.

I agree Barbara (sixtytwo). Being gluten intolerant is just as bad as being celiac, although, I do believe without a doubt, that we are all celiac, in different stages. One day, this will all be discovered by the scientists too, especially when one of them is gluten intolerant/celiac. Then it will be figured out.

I have always loved Ellen, and my daughter does too. Maybe this will be the help she needs to go gluten free. For some reason, when a star announces something like this, people are more apt to listen. People forget, stars are just people too, and just as prone to diseases. Yet when they come forward, and tell what has happened to their health, people can relate, then realize maybe they do have a much bigger problem than they had believed.

Thanks Ellen.