Study says gluten sensitivity is fake

[Harry Lime]

I wonder if some of the sensitivity issues are coming from a source other than gluten. If someone were to take all gluten products out of their diet, they may be eliminating the ingredients which were the cause of their discomfort as a result. Maybe it's a sensitivity to chlorine or peroxide in the bleaching process of enriched wheat flour, that they are misinterpreting.

Also, when someone makes a claim of 50% of the population being gluten sensitive, you have to take into account the 25% of those people who are the significant other of the sensitive person, and therefore 'sensitive'.

[Igster]

Yeah...what Harry said. Delicious gluten has been getting a bad rap for nothing.

[maverickstruth]

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

I wonder if some of the sensitivity issues are coming from a source other than gluten. If someone were to take all gluten products out of their diet, they may be eliminating the ingredients which were the cause of their discomfort as a result. Maybe it's a sensitivity to chlorine or peroxide in the bleaching process of enriched wheat flour, that they are misinterpreting.

Yeah, that's pretty much exactly what the most recent study suggests:

Participants went on a strict diet (low FODMAP, lactose free, certain preservatives removed) and felt better.
Participants went off the strict diet, and felt worse.

What I find interesting about the results is that everyone felt worse - but who is to say that everyone felt worse because of the same things? What if one person reacted to the reintroduction to the higher FODMAP foods, others to the lactose, others to the preservatives, and yet others to the gluten? For that matter, it may be certain foods in combination that caused the gastrointestinal distress.

The more I read and think about the study, the more it strikes me that the study tells us way less than what we'd like to believe it tells us. Nutrition is a tricky thing to study, to be sure!

[SebC]

When headline writers don't understand science, you get headlines like this.

It's not that gluten sensitivity isn't real, it's that most people who think they have it don't.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by 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.

The whole gluten intolerant deal came about the same time as the original study was done by the same person who did the study I mentioned in the OP.

[undercoverbrother]

Gluten this and Gluten that.

You know who I feel sorry for?

Lactose, poor Lactose, back to standing on the side of the gym in the high school dance of allergies/diet sensitivities.

Won't anyone this of Lactosse?

[photon]

Drinking milk from another species of animal is just weird, and drinking milk from our own species would be even weirder (REALLY weirder), so no milk for me.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by photon

Drinking milk from another species of animal is just weird, and drinking milk from our own species would be even weirder (REALLY weirder), so no milk for me.

What about:


Cream, cheese, Yogart et al.?

[To Be Quite Honest]

Originally Posted by Thor

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.

I'm not adverse to the notion that it is carbs, but the attacks by some people here are intolerant, that's for sure. Right now we are a society struggling with nutrition and people want honest answers and trust is at an all time low.

After 20 some years of eating breads I have noticed my skin flare up. Which is why I always say "wheat" intolerant, because that is when it happens. I was tested as a child and they found a "sensitivity" to it, and when I eat wheat, my skin, mostly my hands, bust out with 2-3mm cracks on the finger tips, and they bleed, and then both of my hands looks like Quasimodo. It usually takes a day or two. I've never said I was gluten intolerant to anyone, because I just don't know, but I do know my reactions to wheat itself. However, it is amazing how much sugar is in our foods and I wouldn't be surprised at the bodies auto-immune response to it. I'm blown away by the sugar additives since I started label reading.

[photon]

Cream only in whipped form from a can (which is probably made of oil or plastic rather than actual cream), cheese I don't care for much, and yogurt yuck. Why do we like excretions from other organisms??

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by photon

Cream only in whipped form from a can (which is probably made of oil or plastic rather than actual cream), cheese I don't care for much, and yogurt yuck. Why do we like excretions from other organisms??

Whipped Topping from a can....awesome.


I will be honest, I have concerns about any person that doesn't like cheese.


What other excretions do you avoid?

[SebC]

Originally Posted by photon

Cream only in whipped form from a can (which is probably made of oil or plastic rather than actual cream), cheese I don't care for much, and yogurt yuck. Why do we like excretions from other organisms??

I dunno... it's not much weirder than eating an animal, or a plant, or a fungus, particularly since these excretions have evolved to be eaten.

We eat a lot of weird stuff. Don't think about it too much, just enjoy it.

How do you feel about honey? Eggs?

[photon]

Mozzarella gets special dispensation because of its common association with Pizza.

And whipped topping only if administered directly to the mouth. Which is why I'm not allowed to have any in our house.

EDIT: Great, now I can't eat eggs.

[Azure]

Both eggs and milk are proven to be healthy additions to any diet. Assuming you're not intolerant of course.

[nik-]

Beer is a really weird thing to drink if you think about it too. It's best not to think about it and just enjoy all that tasty stuff

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by nik-

Beer is a really weird thing to drink if you think about it too. It's best not to think about it and just enjoy all that tasty stuff

Yeah, imagine the first beer. "Hey guys, I found this rotten grain from last year in a pot in the back. Dare you to drink it!"

[Erick Estrada]

There are people that have legitimate issues and then there is a large group to which it's all in their heads. It can't be stressed how much your physical well being is determined by your mind. A lot of things like upset stomach, skin conditions, etc can be related to stress, anxiety, depression, etc. The placebo effect figures in here as there is a relationship between how strongly a person expects to have results and whether or not the results occur. If you think a certain diet will make you feel better it may just have a positive affect. Bottom line is whatever works to make you feel more comfortable even if it means tricking yourself into thinking you have to eat a certain diet.

[NuclearPizzaMan]

Everyone is a doctor these days, and their anecdotal evidence trumps the dirty pro-gluten mega$$$ lobby and their double-blind studies!

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by NuclearPizzaMan

Everyone is a doctor these days, and their anecdotal evidence trumps the dirty pro-gluten mega$$$ lobby and their double-blind studies!

That's the great thing about everyone being a doctor is you can self-diagnose yourself as being gluten intolerant. Goes both ways doesn't it.

I don't doubt that some people legitimately have this issue but seeing how rapid this whole gluten intolerance thing has exploded it's hard not to be at least a little skeptical.

[Tron_fdc]

I ate an entire family size bag of gluten free potato chips over the weekend.

Why do I still feel shame?