The staff of life isn't for everyone - Sacramento News & Review

[Scott Adams]

Open Original Shared Link Sacramento News & Review There is an increase in people with celiac disease—but there are also some fad issues at hand. Some people have a true wheat allergy, which is when their ... Open Original Shared Link Marion Star Open Original Shared Link Newsmax Health Open Original Shared Link The Vancouver Observer (blog) Open Original Shared Link Open Original Shared Link

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[Takala]

O.M.G.

That isn't the worst article I've read recently, but it is up there.

And I have been to that store in Sacramento. Somebody needs to tell the owner that if she does interviews, chances are very good that the person writing the story, if they are a typical reporter, (no serious math/science courses, superficial research) will be an idiot on this issue and they have to be educated very carefully, or they will pull your worst comment and make YOU sound the complete idiot.

SNR used to do very good, in depth articles and they have changed.

from the writer of this:

And some people are gluten-intolerant. They have an adverse reaction to the gluten protein in grains such as wheat, barley, rye and oats. It isn

[Skylark]

The idiot also repeats the living gluten free - "it could lead to nutrient deficiencies" which is the line the idiots from the "Professional Dietician Quoted For This Story" have been repeating all year ad nauseum since the NYTimes and some others ran a story on it.

Gaaaaaah !

Why do you take issue with that statement? Most commercial bleached flour is fortified with vitamins and often iron. Most average Americans don't take a vitamin or if they do it's something so cheap it can't really be absorbed like One-A-Day. People who go gluten-free and substitute rice and tapioca flour breads without taking a decent supplement miss out on the vitamins in fortified flour that are reasonably well absorbed.

[Takala]

Why do you take issue with that statement? Most commercial bleached flour is fortified with vitamins and often iron. Most average Americans don't take a vitamin or if they do it's something so cheap it can't really be absorbed like One-A-Day. People who go gluten-free and substitute rice and tapioca flour breads without taking a decent supplement miss out on the vitamins in fortified flour that are reasonably well absorbed.

_____________

Because she was just repeating it, without understanding where the original talking point came from and why it was being used. Celiac is a very real auto immune disease. Gluten intolerance is a very real auto immune disease. It is not a "big fad" and questioning the increasing incidence of celiac and the need for celiacs and gluten intolerant people to have real gluten free FOOD available to them so they do not eat gluten and provoke an auto immune response ( aka "Sickness, illness") is a real issue.

This is a no - brainer. It is a non- starter.

Look at what Melanie Weir said, trying to ward this off - "Those with celiac disease don't want to see gluten free become a fad."

Ding-a-ling writer of story, Rolke, has already called "gluten intolerance" akin to lactose intolerance and is probably wondering why people just don't pop a pill like "lactaid" as they do when drinking milk. She has contributed to the erroneous assumption that celiac is serious but that gluten intolerance is a lifestyle choice. This is the same sort of ridiculousness that causes people in health food stores to stock the spelt bread next to the gluten free bread in the frozen foods display. The writer of the story does not realize that the majority of that 1% of the population are still undiagnosed. If everybody who actually needed to be on a gluten free diet was eating one, then the number of gluten free consumer foods available retail would probably be much higher.

If those undiagnosed want to experiment with trying a gluten free diet to see if it makes them feel better, then more power to them. Especially if they have gone to the professional medical profession MANY times complaining of classic celiac and gluten intolerant symptoms, and been told it's All In Your Head, It's Fibromyalgia, it is Irritable Bowel Syndrome. If they respond to a self made diet trial, they can try again for diagnosis, and then just eat as they need to whether or not stamped with the Official Seal of Approval.

The professional dietician response to that sort of thing is to eat more fiber. And continue to suffer. Because you're going to malnourish yourself.

This assumption is bunk.

Here, on this board, on almost a daily basis we see people learning that gluten cross contamination is a real issue, and that they cannot continue to eat wheat family proteins in any shape or form, and not expect to get sick, whether or not they feel sick when they do it. They ask questions all the time that say is a little bit going to actually hurt me ? So again, I am pointing out that the media is inadvertently and frequently contributing to this attitude.

I just googled the phrase "gluten free diet not nutritious" and once again was directed to a story that says "gluten free diet won't help you lose weight" and it has the original Wall Street Journal quote about "gluten free does not mean nutritious" with a link to it.

The WSJ is a business publication that is dedicated to getting people to invest in commodities, not to give them accurate medical advice.

Underneath the first story are 3 comments. One is accurate from a mother with a celiac daughter, who says to eat more vegetables to lose weight. The other two are bogus comments from people trying to sell either supplements or gluten free foods. One says they were gluten free for 10 years and now can eat it again thanks to enzyme "xxxx," and the other says going gluten free when you aren't can make you allergic to gluten and btw here is my website selling gluten free foods.

There is a lot of huckstering out there.

Here is the original article in the WSJ from August 24 2010 Open Original Shared Link

And here is the culprit: Shelley Case, the registered dietician of the Celiac Disease Foundation, who says "Gluten free does not mean nutritious."

People who don't know any better are going to keep quoting this article, and repeating that phrase and the assumption will be made that a gluten free diet is "lacking" in nutrition- when nothing could be further from the truth. It's quite possible to put together a gluten free diet that is. The problem with the hypothesis that everybody is gorging on rice and tapioca is that.... there aren't too many people actually doing that. Most people discover that they can't eat that stuff like white bread. They are already eating the other foods that do have the supposed missing ingredients.

Will the casual reader realize this ? No. Will the celiac or gluten intolerant person realize this ? Yes.

People whose intestinal linings are damaged and not absorbing nutrients from the wrong diet for their bodies, are the ones who are having a "lack" of nutrition.

[Skylark]

You make some very good points. I'm in a debating mood, so I'll reply some more. I share your frustration with the hucksters selling useless enzymes and the people who want to dismiss gluten intolerance (which is probably early celiac disease in a lot of people). To be honest, I am deeply disturbed by all the people on this forum who require an official Seal of Approval or a Diagnosis to somehow validate the harm that eating gluten does them. It is a sad commentary on the broken state of medicine in our society, where seeking a label from a doctor overrides common sense.

I think many of these articles are trying to counteract the trendsetters who do not require a gluten-free diet and are doing it anyway. It's great that people who are gluten-intolerant and find the diet. That's fine, and a positive side of the fad.

The negative side is that people are getting really confused about wheat as a food. Whole wheat bread is a very nutritious food, with a decent amount of fiber, some vitamins, and a lower glycemic index than gluten-free breads. I have a friend who has no gluten issues at all, but she was telling me she was thinking of going gluten-free because she had read that wheat is bad for you. Another friend chimed in saying she had read something similar. I had remind them that whole wheat is fine thing to eat if you tolerate it.