Attacks on GF diets

Greengoddess · Post by **Greengoddess** » Sun Aug 30, 2015 5:17 pm

I don't know what is happening in the U.S. in my neck of the woods there have been a lot of pieces in the press attacking people who eat GF. One of them a much peddled one in Business Insider. This makes me think it is a threat to some element of the food industry. But by far the worst was a trolling and truly vicious attack on Rosanna Davison who eats GF and foolishly linked gluten to autism. It was like an excuse to become offensive to the entire population of GF eaters! I personally became nervous eating out. Ceoliacs were claiming we made things bad for them because now everyone thought they were faddists too! It did however bring the issue of IBD and MC into the open.

Post by **tex** » Sun Aug 30, 2015 9:44 pm

It hasn't become quite that bad here, but the mainstream medical community has long opposed adopting a GF diet without a celiac diagnosis. They apparently consider it an insult when someone adopts the diet without an official medical diagnosis. My opinion on that is that if they were capable of reliably and accurately diagnosing gluten sensitivity, there wouldn't be any problem in the first place, because we would all be properly diagnosed.

But from a realistic standpoint, what business is it of anyone what someone else eats? The world has become a sad place when anyone or any group feels obligated to try to dictate what anyone else chooses to eat.

It's a pathetic form of legal discrimination. Most countries have laws against discrimination based on age, race, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, etc., but nowhere is discrimination against diet choices mentioned in those laws, so that makes it fair game for diet bigots.

Tex

Lilja · Post by **Lilja** » Mon Aug 31, 2015 2:02 am

Hi,
We see a tendency towards the same here in my country. Nutriotionists and doctors telling the press that gluten free diet has become a "trend", and that people should not self diagnose, because this can lead to malnutrition.

Lilia

Blueberry · Post by **Blueberry** » Mon Aug 31, 2015 4:57 am

The popularity of avoiding wheat for improved health reasons lately, is somewhat reminiscent of what happened in the past. Reading about the old SCD diet, avoiding wheat was one of the main foods mentioned. Then along came medical health officials saying it was only gluten in wheat that caused all the problems people observed. Medical officials had tests that could and should be done. Some dietary people protested saying there were more health problems caused by wheat than just gluten.

It seems today, with the popularity of avoiding wheat, we're returning to past dietary advice. I can imagine some medical officials and their allies view avoiding wheat to improve health conditions as their competition.

Along these lines, I've seen recently on Dr. Davis's Wheat Belly web sight surveys conducted on a wide range of improved health symptoms seen. One of the write ups ~

"Wheat Belly Survey Update: It’s Better Than We Thought!"

http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2015/08/w ... e-thought/

excerpt:

I recently reported the crude numbers from the Wheat Belly Survey that revealed some impressive results. Of the 4200 responses received–thank you!–1200 came from people who had not started the Wheat Belly lifestyle yet. (Most newcomers also did not provide full data.) Having so many newcomers therefore skewed the results a bit.

If those 1200 newcomers are excluded, then another round of analyses of the remaining 3000 people demonstrate:

70.0% reported increased energy
51.3% reported improved sleep
48.8% reported partial or total relief from chronic headaches
63.4% reported partial or total relief from mind “fog” and/or improved ability to concentrate
32.0% reported relief from chronic nausea
30% reported partial relief from joint pain, while 31.6% reported total relief from joint pain
26.74% reported partial relief from gastrointestinal struggles, while 47.2% reported total relief from gastrointestinal struggles
86.8% reported partial to total relief from acid reflux/heartburn/esophagitis
86.1% reported partial to total relief from irritable bowel syndrome symptoms
81.3% reported partial to total relief from chronic constipation
72% reported improved mood
74.1% lost weight, while 22.61% experienced no change in weight. (The amount lost on average will be reported in future.)
72.0% experienced a reduction in waist size, while 25.5% reported no change (The inches lost on average also to be reported in future.)
40.4% reported a reduction in systolic/diastolic blood pressure
54.8% reported improved skin health/reduced redness/reduced rash
32.7% were able to reduce number of prescription medications
The amount of time living the Wheat Belly lifestyle ranged from as short as 10 days to several years. There were also some fascinating and insightful comments shared, as well, that I shall share with the Wheat Belly audience in future (if permission was provided to do so).

Just look at some of those numbers: 86.8% of people obtaining relief from acid reflux, 86.1% obtaining relief from irritable bowel syndrome–astounding! Bear in mind that most of the conditions covered in this survey are typically regarded as causes for prescription medication to “treat,” yet it is clear that many such conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome, are synonymous with wheat/grain consumption, reduced or reversed entirely in the majority with wheat/grain elimination....

Chemgirl · Post by **Chemgirl** » Mon Aug 31, 2015 7:17 am

I have noticed this here to a certain extent.

A friend with celiac is pretty annoyed that nobody seems to take GF seriously anymore. She said she's been exposed to gluten by careless food preparation more times in the last 2 years than in the 30 before. People just assume she's doing it for fun or something. Even if she tells the waitress that she has celiac, the meal often gets called to the prep people as gluten free.

Work people sent me a funny video about a guy asserting "food dominance" over others in an attempt to control people with his "gluten intolerant lifestyle".

Overall I just say I have colitis and gluten makes me feel worse. That's enough for most people.

Post by **tex** » Mon Aug 31, 2015 7:27 am

Promoting the consumption of wheat is job security for physicians and nutritionists. So their position is not surprising. That may seem like a cruel accusation, but how else can one explain their ridiculous claims that avoiding wheat/gluten will lead to malnutrition?

And many/most celiacs have always felt threatened by "unauthorized" use of the GF diet by "unqualified" people, because so many of them still feel sorry for themselves because of their "deprivation" of such a revered food. So naturally they feel that such a cavalier attitude toward the diet demeans their own health issues.

Tex

Greengoddess · Post by **Greengoddess** » Tue Sep 01, 2015 7:47 am

And in e midst of this I was in the unusual position of my GI and Rhinologist telling me I "had to look for intolerances". Without saying how. So off I went! I believe this is unusual in the world of doctors.

Marcia K · Post by **Marcia K** » Tue Sep 01, 2015 6:48 pm

At my GI's office I was told that gluten free is a fad. All righty then.

Marcia

Gigi · Post by **Gigi** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 4:22 pm

I actually find here in the Houston area that most restaurants take it seriously if I tell them I can't have it because it makes me ill or I'm "allergic". Also, many servers seem to be quite knowledgeable. There are some however that are totally clueless as to what gluten is and what it is in. Usually the more high end the restaurant the better the experience. Lower end restaurants don't usually have any gluten free options anyway. So if dining out is expensive it gets even more expensive to dine out gluten free.

Gigi