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Gluten free fad

nuttynutskin

nuttynutskin

Bluelighter
Joined
May 15, 2011
Messages
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First off sorry if there's already a thread on this, and secondly this is in no way aimed at people that have a genuine allergy, but wtf is up with all this gluten free hysteria nowadays? Years ago you never, or at least I never even heard of gluten free. Now I can't help but not hear about it. So I guess my question is is something causing people to become intolerant of gluten all of the sudden, or are people just jumping on this bandwagon with no real basis for doing so? Thoughts?
 
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It's most popular in North America, and it's for a few reasons. But mainly, it's a misnomer... people think it's the gluten content when really it's the way gluten products are made combined with the toxicity of the ingredients. In North America, Monsanto controls most of the food supply and the most productive GMO crops get sprayed with glyphosate right before harvesting. This includes wheat, corn, and soy. That wheat gets processed into baked goods and people consume it, react to it, then call it gluten sensitivity. So they switch to gluten free products, which are mostly made with non-wheat flours like almond, amaranth, brown rice, etc... none of which are controlled by Monsanto or subject to insane pesticide exposure.

The other thing is that traditionally, people of European descent had a diet that was about 60% bread. The difference is that historically breadmaking was a slower process and often involved fermentation which made the end product easier to digest. Compare that to the factory food of today... it's not as easy on the body. Most of the non-wheat flours that people think of as "gluten free" are easier to digest regardless of the gluten issue.

An experienced bread maker describes what has changed about modern bread and why it's a problem:
http://www.sourdoughhome.com/index.php?content=foodphilosophy#breadmatters

I found his take super interesting.
 
It's a proper disease & an extremely unpleasant disabling disease that could affect quite a large number of people, most of them still undiagnosed. It wasn't diagnosed properly before, people were just sick & didn't know why, it'd be called 'IBS' or whatever, or misdiagnosed as some other autoimmune disorder, but medical science keeps progressing & now they know it's an immune response to gluten, for those lucky enough to be diagnosed before it causes serious damage.

It's hard to diagnose because there are so many different symptoms, it can affect every part of the body, every organ.

It's nothing to do with how bread is made or any of the bs in the post above, gluten is a protein found in all wheat, barley & rye. Coeliac disease is an autoimmune disease that causes the immune system to react to gluten in the diet. Corn & soy are totally fine.

My dad can't walk because of gluten ataxia, try telling him its a fad, in fact you can't really tell him anything because he has dementia caused by gluten too. For over 30 years he was told it was just colitis, he hasn't been able to leave the house for 5 years, wasn't even tested for coeliac until last year, now it's too late for him, it'll be a long slow death.

I'm feeling a lot better now, a year after going gluten free, I'm slowly starting to gain weight & look healthier, but I still have problems caused by it that might never heal properly. I'm still at a higher risk of several other serious illnesses like cancer & osteoporosis.

https://www.coeliac.org.uk/

If people think it's a fad diet then they're stupid, if they try to go gluten free to lose weight or whatever that's even dumber, but it helps that safe food that wont poison me with gluten is becoming more widely available. I still don't feel safe eating out & try to cook all my own food from basic ingredients. If I want to go out for more than a few hours I have to plan ahead & take my own food, sometimes it can be hard to even find a snack that is safe for me to eat.

It's fucking irritating that people think it's a fad or make up a load of bullshit to try to explain it, like Foreigner did. You wouldn't question a nut allergy or even lactose intolerance, I don't understand why coeliac gets such disrespect. You've no idea how badly it's affected me & others with the condition.

It's a genetic condition, with some as yet unknown environmental trigger. A large proportion of people have genes that mean they could develop coeliac. It's estimated that around 1 in 100 people in the UK have coeliac disease, higher in Ireland, but as most are undiagnosed it could be more prevalent.
 
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ASAPscience recently made a video about gluten... They explained everything pretty well.
 
Interesting article... I never heard about all of that, but then again I never really studied up on it.
 
My wife suffered from severe eczema her whole life. Her neck, arms and almost entire body would swell up in nasty itchy rash and the only thing that would calm it was lying on a sun bed for ten minutes a week. Obviously this is dangerous, and as soon as they banned solariums here she was facing a lifetime of suffering.

In desperation she decided to cut out either gluten or lactose after some internet research. Being a cheese lover she chose gluten and within 3 weeks her life was changed forever. She has thrown away all her steroid creams and the only time she now has a breakout is when something is passed off as gluten free at a restaurant because some cockstain waiter rolls their eyes and thinks she is just on a fad diet. Who gives two shits what you think is a fad or not. For the thousands of people who don't have a real choice it is a real concern.

Personally I eat very little gluten because it is simply easier to not have to make two meals. I'm not allergic but I do notice a big difference when I eat gluten heavy foods or drink beer. The bloating and heavy feeling in my gut is obvious. I'm not about to give away pizza or beer but the awareness of businesses to offer gluten free dishes does make my life so much easier.
 
One Thousand Words said:
Who gives two shits what you think is a fad or not. For the thousands of people who don't have a real choice it is a real concern.
Click to expand...

I just find it interesting that everybody and their mother has a gluten intolerance when years ago you hardly ever heard about it. I think some people are misinterpreting why I started this thread. Never in this thread have I discredited anyone with a real allergy, but it seems like tons of people are just jumping on the bandwagon for no reason. It's a whole billion dollar industry now.
 
Well it did take her 30 years to establish the connection. She has always sufferers from excema and hay fever. It's not as simple as her throat swelling up or her eyes starting to water. In her situation it appears to also be linked to her allergy to grass, melons and avacado. Apparently all these plants have a similar genetic relationship to particular sufferers. Her allergy to gluten is completely different to those who suffer from coeliac disease of the GI tract
 
glutards

I will admit that the bloat and weight gain from gluten is real. I have been paleo 2+ years and whenever I drink IPA I look like a starved ethiopian for days


Busty, you have to marry her first then she is your wife ;)
 
I see no harm in eliminating refined wheat from your diet. Definitely feel better not eating it myself.. I have been eating it since childhood, then I eliminated it, then reintroduced it. Definitely noticed a difference. Now whether it's the gluten or the shit they call wheat these days.. who knows for sure. My mother is inclined to believe it's GMO or chemicals of some kind.. she's a country girl and grew up with fresh produce.

One can always make some sourdough bread if they miss bread that much..
 
I can't really offer too much to this topic and majority has been covered. However, considering I've had G.I issues my whole life and have been caught with text book crohn's sores awhile back I have never once paid attention to the gluten pandemic in America. Ever. I know many who claim gluten intolerance are associated with gastro related issues. I've only stayed away from heavily processed foods and/or have them with moderation. At the same time I also maintain a very high fiber intake that I know majority of americans don't even come close to.

It is all heresay to me. Like someone mentioned above and posted the link from the breadmaker (I read it, great read actually) It isn't exactly gluten itself, but the extreme manufacturing process that exists with a lot of food today.
 
50 years ago how many people were "gluten intolerant?" No one!

My ex-wife bought in to this bullshit when her friends convinced her going around asking "is this gluten-free" sounded hip. When I asked her why, she said because of her skin condition on her hands. Two years later it's worse than ever but she's still "gluten intolerant." Puhlease!

How much money has been made off this fad?

And what blows me away about her is that for years I could never interest her in even basic herb supplementation. I buy her stuff all the time and she won't take it, not even fish oil. Too much!
 
I find people's food preferences and opinions on nutrition to be one of their most exasperating qualities. This gluten-free shibboleth is annoying to endure, but it doesn't outdo the insufferably irksome twaddle of veganism/vegetarianism.

Most especial is when this herbivore hokum is unavailingly legitimated by pseudoscience and a failure to comprehend even rudimentary tenets of evolutionary biology ("gorillas have sharp teeth but don't eat meat, thus humans' canine teeth didn't evolve out of a diet of meat. Lol! QED!").

In fact, the whole 'science' of nutrition is riddled with ridiculous balderdash and replete with blarney.
 
I know a gentleman in Upstate Ny who can trade macronutrients per serving at a glance. Ive educated myself a bit and came to wonder if I might just learn some proper food diagnosis so I can maybe copy his spoken rhythm.

I want to be able to trade macronutrients per serving out of a real diagnosis, and maybe when theres more stable datum at the consumer level will I feel comfortable amusing my peers with my song.

Ive been looked after carefully. Im filed under the students with disability act. Some guidance counselars at School are hustlers looking to keep their flock safe and the integrity of accommodations intact for thise who truly need them.
 
what fad? being gluten-free is as simple as not eating any grains. people who get gluten-free versions of foods that normally are made with wheat are just trying to have their cake and eat it too. that seems like more of a cop-out than anything, calling it a fad is a bit of a stretch.
 
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