Gluten sensitivity

[stranger706]

Last week I found out I have a gluten sensitivity. Gluten is a protein found in grains such as wheat, rye, barley and oats. There is also a gluten allergy. Luckily I only have the gluten sensitivity; the gluten allergy will send you to the ER.

For most of my life I've had these annoying little medical issues that would come and go. Migraines, skin issues, sensitivity to light, low energy. These are all possible symptoms of gluten sensitivity.

The doc told me to try gluten free for a month and see if anything changes, see if I feel better or anything like that.

We're slowly cleaning out the pantry and figuring out what to eat, what not to eat. The doc says this gluten sensitivity is becoming more prevalent in the US lately due to our growing dependence on processed foods.

Just wanted to share and see if anyone has any experience with this.

 

[MarkStock]

Yes I gave up wheat and gluten over the last few weeks and have seen a huge benefit.

It's something that's caused me problems my whole life and recently the compound effects of it were getting more serious.

My wife has benefited from stopping it as have our children.

 

[earlyre]

no personal experience, but i did recently notice a Gluten-Free Beer on the shelves.
no wheat, or barley used, Made From Sorghum.
I believe it was called Red Bridge.
made by one of the major brewers.

 

[JHZR2]

In some health circles where allergies and inflammation are believed to be the root cause of a lot of issues, the mantra of "no wheat, no meat, no dairy" as a dietary approach to first baseline you to being aware of what makes you feel good/bad is used. Those three things just seem to have the biggest effect on people as a whole.

Ive always personally avoided large quantities of bread, pasta, etc., but once a few years back, my boss's husband was diagnosed with celiac. My wife and I took interest in this just out of discussion with them, and decided to try gluten free for a few dishes for a time. We used gluten free pastas, made gluten free pizza dough, etc. Things didnt taste the same, some were good, some not so much, but we did both generally feel that eating the GF options left us feeling lighter and less sluggish than eating the full up wheat product. Neither of us is celiac, nor do we have any issue with wheat in any other way.

But nor would we either take anywhere near what the guidelines are for breads and cerials in our daily diet. Fruits and vegetables and other high nutrient density foods are what we tend to eat.

 

[MONKEYMAN]

I used to have terrible pain after eating a lot of wheat products. I eliminated gluten and that problem has not returned. You are trying to figure out what you can eat. Here is a list Dr Wallach recommends based on many years of research:

Gluten free diet

Here is some info on Dr Wallach's credentials:

MEET THE DOCTOR

I have better health since following what Dr Wallach recommends.

 

[Shannow]

Problem that I see with celiacs and gluten intolerant people around here is that they try to eat the stupid western "food pyramid" and do it gluten free, cereals and toast for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, cakes, and pastas, rather than just acknowledging that the pyramid is broken, and is a model that should best never be followed, gluten or not.

 

[Silk]

Yes, like vegetarians who just don't eat meat without any other thought to their diet - we call them white bread vegetarians.

 

[BearZDefect]

I agree with Silk and Shannow.

Wheat is bad for me, yet I can eat oats. I don't pin it on gluten, but I avoid overeating any grain.

For me, make it roughly "no wheat, few grains, no dairy except for butter, yes red meat, and plenty produce."

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Wheat gives me heart burn 80% of the time. It's awfully hard to avoid it in this country.

 

[rslifkin]

I'm celiac, so I've been gluten free since I found out 8 years ago. It takes a little getting used to, but it's not bad once you adjust. Gluten free bagels and pastas (the rice ones, not the corn ones) are pretty good, gluten free bread, however, is terrible. I haven't tried any of the cereals in a few years, so I'm not sure how good those have gotten.

BearZDefect - At this point, it's been determined that Oats are generally fine, as they contain little to no gluten. They don't bother me either.

 

[BearZDefect]

rslifkin, you are right about oats.

But I have a puzzle: If gluten is bad for me then why can I eat Kamut with no ill effects?

 

[TooManyWheels]

There are some great books about gluten sensitivity out there. Two I can recommend are Wheat Belly, and Going Against the Grain.

The main takeaway that everyone should be told is that the consequences are serious and insidious for people who are affected. Many may be affected and not know it, as the tests can give false negatives. In people who are affected, it can affect the stomach lining such that the individual does not take in nutrients properly, therefore leading to a whole host of problems.

I don't avoid gluten entirely, but when I do I feel better and less hungry. And if I deliberately go eat pasta, my hands and joints ache.

 

[TooManyWheels]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
.. rather than just acknowledging that the pyramid is broken, and is a model that should best never be followed, gluten or not.


I couldn't agree more! We have diabetes at record proportions and the advisory agencies are still saying we should have lots of "healthy whole grains". What do they think carbohydrates turn into, anyway?

 

[BearZDefect]

Originally Posted By: TooManyWheels
... We have diabetes at record proportions and the advisory agencies are still saying we should have lots of "healthy whole grains". What do they think carbohydrates turn into, anyway?

You can say that again.

And again.

Apparently it will take a few decades of hearing it before the masses (including health care) internalize the fact.

Another fallacy that was promoted for decades, proven untrue years ago yet still prevalent, is that margarine and various manipulated (ex, partially hydrogenated) cheap oils are better for you than butter.

 

[MarkStock]

Nice to see so many people here understand the issues. I've researched it a lot and there is much more to learn and understand.

The whole area of nutrition has parallels with car maintenance. However, the medical system as a whole, is clearly not as well organized.

With cars, manufacturer's vigourously test parts and fluids. Other bodies also perform testing. The aim is always to maximize performance and reliability. Findings are distilled into maintenance schedules and maintenance advice. But technology changes, cars change, mechanics get old and don't keep up with the latest findings, training is not perfectly delivered or understood and consumers don't listen. As a result, cars suffer, but if one were to seek out the right advice, it is there, both to maintain and repair.

While not all the folks at the implementation end do know what they are doing or don't care, or unfortunately in many cases have a vested interest in things breaking down, the people at the theory end do know what they are doing.

With medicine and nutrition, the people at the theory end have not understood what is going on and have consequently organized the system to perpetuate their misunderstandings. Medical students get virtually no training on nutrition and prevention. Nutrition is a speciality. But with cars, nutrition is the equivalent of maintenance and is front and center of what all engineers work on. The idea being that your new car will perform at it's peak, and you can keep it that way. Medical students are instead trained to be like mechanics - to repair things, not to advise how to maintain peak performance.

Where the medical system breaks down is that the experts at the theory end (including politicians), unlike the engineering experts at our car manufacturers, have it very wrong. As a result, they've essentially helped to create an entire medical repair industry in multiple areas (cancer, heart disease, diabetes), whose livelihood depends on people getting sick.

Very hard to change.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Originally Posted By: TooManyWheels
We have diabetes at record proportions and the advisory agencies are still saying we should have lots of "healthy whole grains". What do they think carbohydrates turn into, anyway?


That's the biggest load of bunk I've seen in ages and shows a complete lack of understanding of refined versus whole grain foods.

Refined or processed grain, for foods such as white bread and pasta, break down relatively rapidly when you eat them; the glucose content enters your bloodstream considerably faster than the glucose content of whole grains. As a result, refined grains trigger significantly higher amounts of insulin secretion. If you habitually consume lots of refined grains, prolonged exposure to accompanying elevations in your glucose and insulin levels can contribute to the onset of Type 2 diabetes. This is not how whole grains work.

Whole grain glucose doesn't enter the bloodstream as fast, and doesn't trigger the high insulin reaction that refined grains do.

Regular consumption of whole grains can help improve the body's ability to use insulin properly and help prevent the onset of insulin resistance (from the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University). People with insulin resistance have a reduced sensitivity to insulin's normal effects; in turn, this increases the risks for the onset of Type 2 diabetes. While definitive link between whole grains and Type 2 diabetes prevention has yet to be established, rates of insulin resistance are lowered with whole grains and that typically translates into fewer cases of the disorder.

If you want to wag your finger at a contributing cause of diabetes, simply take a look at fast food. A University of Minnesota study found overwhelming evidence that eating fast food two or more times a week increased the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by 27 percent (go look up their Singapore study). Whenever a western fast food diet is introduced into a fast-food-free market such as Singapore in the early 1990's, the rate of diabetes always (no, not sometimes, but always) skyrockets.

Combine fast food with the average Americans' obesity and lack of exercise, both proven over and over again to be directly tied to the increase in Type 2 diabetes, and it's abundantly clear why diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions. By some estimates 70+% of Type 2 diabetes can be directly tied to obesity and lack of exercise. Whole grains have nothing to do with it; rather a poor diet, being fat, and not exercising are the biggest contributing factors.

 

[BearZDefect]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
...
Whole grain glucose doesn't enter the bloodstream as fast, and doesn't trigger the high insulin reaction that refined grains do...

Pop_Rivit, I agree with your points. Whole grains are far more nutritious than refined, and contain important fiber for GI health, etc. Exercise is critical to maintaining health. And so on. BTW, there is no such thing as "Whole grain glucose."

I maintain that the unqualified promotion of grains is misleading. If you look at the glycemic index of most whole grains versus refined, the difference is usually small. If a body has trouble stabilizing blood sugar levels, then whole grains in significant quantities will trigger the same problem refined grains will.

Visit a grocery store and see how many people fill up their shopping carts with boxes of processed grain foods. Sure, it's better to be made from whole grains, but whole wheat crackers/breads vs white flour crackers/breads? Is there really much difference in terms of dumping sugar into the blood? I'll agree that the whole grains would help more if we chewed the cooked whole wheat kernels, oat kernels, brown rice, etc, but not foods made from flours.

But the main topic of this thread was gluten, and wheat by extension. "Gluten free" has gained the attention of marketers. Whether it is meaningful depends on the individual.

 

[Ray Garlington]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit

... By some estimates 70+% of Type 2 diabetes can be directly tied to obesity and lack of exercise. Whole grains have nothing to do with it; rather a poor diet, being fat, and not exercising are the biggest contributing factors.


Sorry, but grains have a LOT to do with it. If you are obese and stop eating grains, you will lose a lot of weight. You will naturally just want to eat less. How do you think they fatten cattle for the market? The answer: lots of healthy whole grains.

As far as the blood sugar issue when eating grains, just buy a cheap blood glucose meter and see what happens when you eat a couple of slices of healthy whole grain bread (and nothing else). You will be surprised. Try again with white bread.... not much difference.

The refined vs whole grain issue is a distraction from the fact that BOTH are bad for you. Whole grains are just marginally less bad than refined/white flour, but still bad.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
Problem that I see with celiacs and gluten intolerant people around here is that they try to eat the stupid western "food pyramid" and do it gluten free, cereals and toast for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, cakes, and pastas, rather than just acknowledging that the pyramid is broken, and is a model that should best never be followed, gluten or not.


Agreed.

No one diet or plan fits everyone. None.

Everyone here loves to paint with too wide of a brush on everything, food issues included.

The Glycemic index is easily found online for any food, and simply eating differently is an easy experiment anyone can do to see what irritates your particular metabolism.

 

[BearZDefect]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
...

No one diet or plan fits everyone. None.

...

Right!

All I can suggest is people do their best to maintain their own health using some study, some experimenting, and some observation of their body reactions.