Study says gluten sensitivity is fake

[btimbit]

We touched on this the other day in another thread. Yes, gluten free is a fad. No, I'm not saying there's no such thing as gluten sensitivity, and obviously there's celiac, however it's still just a fad.

Celiac effects 1 in 200 people iirc, maybe another 1 in 200 are 'gluten sensitive'. So that's maybe 1% of the population combined, yet for me trends show that gluten free requests are almost 17% of restaurant meals.

We saw the same thing with saturated fats years ago, and when going vegetarian was huge before that. What's next, people without peanut allergies avoiding peanuts for no reason?

I don't know how much of the population is a non-celiac 'gluten sensitive', that number above I made up. However I very seriously doubt it's anywhere close to the amount of gluten free requests and diets that are out there.

Edit: I wouldn't say it so bluntly, or as black & white as the title. Saying it's fake, a bit much. But it is certainly an overblown fad.

[photon]

Considering there's whole shelves of grocery stores dedicated to gluten free and how big that's gotten I think it's further towards fad and marketing vs. scientifically supported condition. Lots of confounding factors (i.e. carbs in general, or things in wheat/grains other than gluten). Plus placebo, plus psychosomatic (it's got gluten, I'm allergic, so I must feel sick).

Makes for lots of variety for those with Celiac Disease tho

All the heath professionals I've spoken with (including an allergist) don't put much stock into it and say that a good gluten-free diet takes careful attention since it's easy to have too much fat and not enough fibre.

[Knut]

Originally Posted by To Be Quite Honest

Well, I've been off wheat for 17 days and my eczema has gone from bloody, cracking and unbearable with loads of daily Vit C to help me maintain some normal life (10 000mg) to manageable with less Vit C (6 000mg) to finally healing and slowly going away (4 000mg). I can see it healing from the inside out as my skin slowly sheds away the outer rash naturally. I look forward to using less Vit C.

However, it could be a carbohydrate issue as well. The body converting the sugars in bread and other simple carb foods that cause the auto-immune disease eczema. So I'm certainly curious.

One fact is that as a society we need less "ulterior motive" studies for diet and I'd need to see a lot more studies before I'd believe this over my own bodies reaction from less wheat.

However, if one of my friends roll their eyes at me for ordering less wheat in my foods it's a clear indication that they're an ass-hat and I need to find better friends. Eczema is a real bitch.

Sorry. What. You were taking 5 times the safe upper limit of Vitamin C a day ?

----/---

Life Stage Upper Safe Limit
Birth to 12 months Not established
Children 1–3 years 400 mg
Children 4–8 years 650 mg
Children 9–13 years 1,200 mg
Teens 14–18 years 1,800 mg
Adults 2,000 mg

"Can vitamin C be harmful?

Taking too much vitamin C can cause diarrhea, nausea, and stomach cramps. In people with a condition called hemochromatosis, which causes the body to store too much iron, high doses of vitamin C could worsen iron overload and damage body tissues"
http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminC-QuickFacts/

------

At best you were just making your pee more expensive by taking that much vitamin C.

The "some vitamins are good for me, therefore lots of vitamins must be great for me" thought process is insanity.

[nik-]

I just find it odd that all of a sudden, in like a 10 year span, so many more people are suddenly allergic or intolerant to something that's sustained humanity for 10000 years.

Celiacs exist, but a plague of gluten intolerance ... umm?

[btimbit]

I don't think I'd even heard of gluten free until maybe 2009-ish.

"Gluten aware" is definitely my most hated phrase of 2014 so far.

[nik-]

All I know is gluten gives the bread in delicious sandwiches that chewiness, so if you can't eat it, pass that #### over here. I'll sprinkle gluten on everything.

[To Be Quite Honest]

Originally Posted by Hesla

Sorry. What. You were taking 5 times the safe upper limit of Vitamin C a day ?

----/---

Life Stage Upper Safe Limit
Birth to 12 months Not established
Children 1–3 years 400 mg
Children 4–8 years 650 mg
Children 9–13 years 1,200 mg
Teens 14–18 years 1,800 mg
Adults 2,000 mg

"Can vitamin C be harmful?

Taking too much vitamin C can cause diarrhea, nausea, and stomach cramps. In people with a condition called hemochromatosis, which causes the body to store too much iron, high doses of vitamin C could worsen iron overload and damage body tissues"
http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminC-QuickFacts/

------

At best you were just making your pee more expensive by taking that much vitamin C.

The "some vitamins are good for me, therefore lots of vitamins must be great for me" thought process is insanity.

Your first question should be, are you experiencing any stomach cramps or diarrhea? Do you have hemochromatosis? How bad is your eczema and how do you manage your auto-immune disease? At what point does it begin to subside or become manageable (10 000mg)?

At best I'm managing a debilitating disease that no doctor could help with unless I bought a $100 steroid ointment. Now those side affects are a real pain in the ass. My skin used to tear like tissue paper.

Thank you for your concern, then your insult, but I'm quite fine and doing better. Now go save the world some place else.

[Knut]

I am not sure where I insulted you.

How about this ? Are you a field Vole ?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...y-quarter.html Excessive Vitamin C (or E) could reduce Vole life expectantcy by 25 %

WebMD lists a bunch of vitamins and supplements here and The results of studies on their effectiveness. No sign of vitamin C. Vitamin D seems effective. But excess vitamin D intake can have serious issues.

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supple...iasis&source=0

I searched and could find no good research regarding using excessive vitamin C to help psoriasis (except from the vitamin C foundation website).

How about the science behind vitamin C absorption ?
http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Vit...hProfessional/

Oral vitamin C produces tissue and plasma concentrations that the body tightly controls. Approximately 70%–90% of vitamin C is absorbed at moderate intakes of 30–180 mg/day. However, at doses above 1 g/day, absorption falls to less than 50% and absorbed, unmetabolized ascorbic acid is excreted in the urine [4]. Results from pharmacokinetic studies indicate that oral doses of 1.25 g/day ascorbic acid produce mean peak plasma vitamin C concentrations of 135 micromol/L, which are about two times higher than those produced by consuming 200–300 mg/day ascorbic acid from vitamin C-rich foods [10]. Pharmacokinetic modeling predicts that even doses as high as 3 g ascorbic acid taken every 4 hours would produce peak plasma concentrations of only 220 micromol/L [10].

Essentially the majority you are taking is being excreted via urine.

Finally. My wife suffers from Psoriasis and really struggled with it until she was prescribed this http://www.clobex.com/ . it seems extremely effective for her and others we have talked to.

[Cowboy89]

http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-real-d...become-trendy/

[Critter4223]

My sister is a food/health nazi and I've tried all of her different types of diets and cleanses and the best I've felt from anything is by not eating processed food and high sugar foods.

[cancer man]

Yes, it's sugar-free, low-fat, non-dairy, peanut free, gluten free, no msg, no trans fats, low carb, non GMO, organic, vegan, low calorie, no fructose, and it tastes like crap too.

[Thor]

Originally Posted by To Be Quite Honest

Well, I've been off wheat for 17 days and my eczema has gone from bloody, cracking and unbearable with loads of daily Vit C to help me maintain some normal life (10 000mg) to manageable with less Vit C (6 000mg) to finally healing and slowly going away (4 000mg). I can see it healing from the inside out as my skin slowly sheds away the outer rash naturally. I look forward to using less Vit C.

However, it could be a carbohydrate issue as well. The body converting the sugars in bread and other simple carb foods that cause the auto-immune disease eczema. So I'm certainly curious.

One fact is that as a society we need less "ulterior motive" studies for diet and I'd need to see a lot more studies before I'd believe this over my own bodies reaction from less wheat.

However, if one of my friends roll their eyes at me for ordering less wheat in my foods it's a clear indication that they're an ass-hat and I need to find better friends. Eczema is a real bitch.

I drastically decreased my carbs and my skin is way better, I have psoriasis and I am currently not even using prescribed creams on my skin. This is with me having 1 night a week where I take in lots of carbs, so its not intolerance as much as a lot of carbs in my diet just meant much worse skin. I also consume way less sugar and dairy. Just feel much better.

[FlamesAddiction]

I do think there is a placebo effect that occurs though. People assume that it is gluten causing their issues and they feel better when they stop eating it. The bad thing about that is, if they actually have a serious issue and it keeps going ignored, it could cause them bigger problems later.

[Igster]

Originally Posted by Critter4223

My sister is a food/health nazi and I've tried all of her different types of diets and cleanses and the best I've felt from anything is by not eating processed food and high sugar foods.

And there it is in a nutshell folks. That's pretty much it. Eat fresh and stay away from processing and high sugar.

I could easily lose a lot of weight by just staying away from beer. But I love beer too much...

[_Q_]

Maybe a bit off topic, but I had an ex girlfriend that was all into the gluten free diet. She was self diagnosed "gluten sensitive". One day I made her noodles and I told her they were gluten free rice noodles when in fact they were wheat noodles full of gluteny goodness. An hour after dinner I asked her how she was feeling and she was feeling and she was feeling fine. Same as 3 hours later and same as the next day. A week later I asked her if she felt any bloating or stomach issues after dinner last week and she said no. Then I told her about all the gluten she consumed and she got mad.

Good times, that's why she's my ex now.

Not saying all the celiacs are making it up. If you've been diagnosed with it then I have nothing against you. But to willfully stop eating gluten because some chick in your yoga class said that "gluten is like unnatural and it like makes you fat, it's like added to wheat by big GMO corporations to make money" is absolutely ignorant and insane.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Cowboy89

Finally, I'm sick of people who self-diagnose themselves with food allergies or food sensitivities. These people end up holding any common meal gatherings hostage.

I went to a dinner party with about a dozen people. Half said they could not tolerate gluten. Really? 50% of you?

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/...e-new-candida/

The idea that gluten sensitivity is real and widespread goes far beyond the current scientific evidence, and the well-established facts of celiac disease. Time will tell if gluten avoidance follows the path of Candida, and other dietary fears and fads that preceded it. But it doesn’t need to. Given the protean nature of CD, symptoms cannot be dismissed as nocebo effects: A CD diagnosis needs to be ruled out before NCGS is even contemplated. Going gluten-free in the absence of a proper medical evaluation may not be directly harmful, but it complicates a diagnosis. Moreover, it can be expensive, and difficult to maintain 100% avoidance – essential with CD, but not established as necessary with NCGS. Besides, who really wants to cut out all gluten-containing products if they don’t need to? Until better diagnostic criteria are established, the N of 1 trial is probably the most science-based (if impractical) approach: single-blind challenges to measure for subjective or objective symptoms. Our challenge in dealing with dietary fads as health professionals is to recognize that some of our patients are suffering, and evaluate them in a science based way: without dismissing the symptoms, and without advocating dietary transformations that may be unnecessary.

[bizaro86]

While celiac disease is obviously real, and gluten sensitivity affects some people, there are definitely those who think they have it due to placebo affect.

---Warning: Anecdotal Evidence Ahead---

For instance, one friend of mine who claims to be feeling much, much better since he stopped eating gluten a few months ago. He has a wide variety of detailed symptoms that have stopped happening to him. He was telling me all about it after work while drinking a few grasshoppers on a patio on Stephen Ave.

For those who might not be aware, grasshopper is a wheat beer.

[NuclearFart]

Somatoform disorder + snake oil = $$profit$$

[Rhettzky]

Not eating processed foods in general will have a very positive effect on most. It stops you from buying most frozen processed foods and eliminates almost all of your fast food options. Those two things alone can make a big difference to most people who have a weight problem that is negatively affecting their health and caused by poor eating habits.

[saillias]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

While celiac disease is obviously real, and gluten sensitivity affects some people, there are definitely those who think they have it due to placebo affect.

---Warning: Anecdotal Evidence Ahead---

For instance, one friend of mine who claims to be feeling much, much better since he stopped eating gluten a few months ago. He has a wide variety of detailed symptoms that have stopped happening to him. He was telling me all about it after work while drinking a few grasshoppers on a patio on Stephen Ave.

For those who might not be aware, grasshopper is a wheat beer.

Ahahaha