Will a gluten-free diet improve your health? - CNN

[Scott Adams]

Open Original Shared Link CNN She saw a doctor who suspected she might have celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that can appear at any age and is caused by an intolerance to gluten. A protein found in wheat, barley, and rye (and countless food products -- like bread and pasta ... Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

[Takala]

Where does one start with this one ?

Author:

even though it's an extremely difficult diet to follow.

No, and if you could wipe out mis labeling and cross contamination issues with manufacturing, it would be even easier.

It's got a gastroenterologist who's saying:

"Gluten is fairly indigestable in all people," Leffler says. "There's probably some kind of gluten intolerance in all of us."

As a layperson on a gluten free diet, if I said that, I'd be considered whackadoodle, just like some vegans who insist that all people would be much healthier on a vegan diet, as they chow down on a tofu patty with soy sauce on a wheat bun. There now seems to be a range of gastros from Full on Skeptical to Whole Hog Embracing.

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And then there's this. You'd better hope the restaurant you're eating at isn't following these guidelines for their "gluten free menu."

Recommendations for people with gluten sensitivity aren't as clear-cut. Unlike celiac disease, gluten sensitivity hasn't been linked to intestine damage and long-term health problems, so some experts say that people on the less severe end of the spectrum should feel comfortable eating as much gluten as they can handle without feeling sick.

"Some people can be exquisitely sensitive and have to be as strict as people with celiac disease, while others can eat a pizza," Fasano says.

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Mercifully, this time there was a registered dietician who said:

Even if you feel better, "definitely don't try to add it back in," she urges. Brown counts herself among the gluten sensitive.

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About that gluten free food:

Some of the many gluten-free products on the market can be unhealthy, Fasano says, because manufacturers add extra sugar and fat to simulate the texture and satisfying fluffiness that gluten imparts.

But they do that to wheat products, too. It's a waste land out there in the bakery aisle.

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Another registered dietician to the rescue:

If you plan to go gluten free, select more fruits, vegetables, and lean meat, and more naturally gluten-free grains like brown rice, quinoa, and buckwheat, rather than just buying prepackaged products labeled "gluten free," Sandquist says.

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and then in the comments, there was the obligatory food trolls:

poiop What a lot of BS......gluten allergies....peanut allergies.....soy allergies. Just eat chemical free and fresh meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, milk, cheeses, and whole grains etc... you will be fine.

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Puzzled77 Psychosomatic Americans on with every trend. How did people survive before there were experts to tell you what to eat?

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....sounds like a heathen diet not a natural from the scripture.

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MedStudent85

While celiac is more than sufficiently established as an autoimmune disorder (via histopathological, serological and clinical findings, documented and analyzed through peer reviewed research, with new treatments besides gluten avoidance on the horizon), gluten "intolerance" is quite the opposite.

The article really hit the nail on the head when it described it as a "moving target". There are no established diagnostic criteria, there is no supporting body of evidence, there are no histopathological findings, or serological findings, and there is hardly any real conclusive data in the medical literature.

When you see treatments/diagnostics like that, placebo effects and psychosomatic issues start to look more and more like the correct explanation....

[etta694]

The article really hit the nail on the head when it described it as a "moving target". There are no established diagnostic criteria, there is no supporting body of evidence, there are no histopathological findings, or serological findings, and there is hardly any real conclusive data in the medical literature.

And who's fault is that.. maybe the researchers could look into that void...?

When you see treatments/diagnostics like that, placebo effects and psychosomatic issues start to look more and more like the correct explanation....

...where is my gun..? oh, did I say that out loud?

Why is there an echo all over the medical community? Because pharmaceutical companies who fund universities can't make money off of a healthy eating choice. "Your tests are normal.. you're FINE! What you need are antidepressants for this stress."

{yada yada yada.. you've heard it all before...venting finished.. steam still rising from top of noggin..}

[Takala]

Well, anybody can claim to be a "Med Student" on the internet.

I don't know if you saw my earlier rant on food trolls playing "shag the celiacs and gluten intolerants on the internet," and how I figured out what they were more likely up to, besides being obnoxious.

Note the lingo. The lobbyists are very fond of that phrase "documented and analyzed through peer reviewed research."