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Gluten/Wheat Kick (Read 1363 times)

Trent


Good Bad & The Monkey

    And what's the problem if it is just a placebo effect, if the effect is a positive one on how you feel?

     

    It causes folks to think they have a disease that they do not, and then they may not go out and find the true cause for their symptoms and miss an important diagnosis or other cause.

    Slo


      This

       

      "A gluten-free diet may not meet the recommended intake for fiber, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, folate, iron, or calcium.[citation needed] It is important for those who avoid gluten in their diet to find more nutrient-dense food sources to prevent such deficiencies"  -Wiki-

       

      And This:

       

      “People think that gluten-free diets are more healthy,” Guandalini says. “This is, of course, not the case.” In fact, the diet is hard to follow and may pose nutritional drawbacks when people have no medical reason to be on it.  -WebMD-

       

      My Dad under went hours of counseling from a dietician and was monitored for some of the deficiences above. He did have to take supplements. We, family members, were told that we should follow or normal diet and not his. Mom primarily since it was just the two of them at home.

       

      To my knowledge, there is no proof of actual "Gluten Intolerence". Maybe too much in a diet but I don't see eliminating it totally as being a healthy thing to do.

       

      I'm certainly no expert in this field but it is such a rudimentary part of a normal and healthy diet it just seems counter productive.

        First, I should say that I am NOT some militant gluten-is-evil activist.  I don't even pay much attention to my own diet and, to be honest, it could be better.

         

        "A gluten-free diet may not meet the recommended intake for fiber, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, folate, iron, or calcium.[citation needed] It is important for those who avoid gluten in their diet to find more nutrient-dense food sources to prevent such deficiencies"

        The kind of person trying out gluten-free to be trendy (for lack of a better way to put it) may have this risk.  Someone doing it to alleviate symptomsor improve health is, IMO, likelier to pay close attention to diet and nutrients.

         

         

        To my knowledge, there is no proof of actual "Gluten Intolerence". Maybe too much in a diet but I don't see eliminating it totally as being a healthy thing to do.  I'm certainly no expert in this field but it is such a rudimentary part of a normal and healthy diet it just seems counter productive.

        I can't say.  My dad has celiac (diagnosed).  My wife has an obviously gluten-related issue, although her symptoms at their height weren't as bad as my father's.  She'd been off gluten for several weeks before being tested, which we were told (and have read) lessened the chance of a positive.  (She was counseled to eat gluten and return for re-testing while in the throes of a reaction; she declined.)  For her, it is NOT placebo -- she gets sick even after unknowingly ingesting gluten.

        "I want you to pray as if everything depends on it, but I want you to prepare yourself as if everything depends on you."

        -- Dick LeBeau

          It causes folks to think they have a disease that they do not, and then they may not go out and find the true cause for their symptoms and miss an important diagnosis or other cause.

          Trent, I'll grant you that a placebo effect might delay someone seeking "proper" medical testing, but ... how long do you think it is going to survive in the face of an actual medical condition?  At some point, abstinence or no abstinence, Nuke LaLoosh's winning streak ends.

          "I want you to pray as if everything depends on it, but I want you to prepare yourself as if everything depends on you."

          -- Dick LeBeau

          Trent


          Good Bad & The Monkey

            Just depends on the condition.

             

            Let's say that the condition you think is gluten insensitivity is actually a smoldering case of Lyme disease. You treat it through dietary changes for 6-12 months. By time you actually get the Lyme disease diagnosed, it becomes harder to treat and some of the symptoms will never go away.

             

            Let's say that the condition you think is gluten insensitivity is actually a lymphoma. If you had gotten it diagnosed promptly, it would have been treatable. But after 12 months of avoiding bread and beer, the lymphoma is no longer treatable.

             

            Just depends.

            wickedlady


              Can anyone provide some resources on the thyroid/gluten connection? Never heard about this and as I've been taking thyroid replacement most of my adult life I'm certainly curious.

              DirtyGraceFlint


              The Crap Whisperer

                Can anyone provide some resources on the thyroid/gluten connection? Never heard about this and as I've been taking thyroid replacement most of my adult life I'm certainly curious.

                 

                There is a thyroid group on RA - great source of info. http://www.runningahead.com/groups/TSH/

                Being the best tiny spec that I can be!

                wickedlady


                  There is a thyroid group on RA - great source of info. http://www.runningahead.com/groups/TSH/

                   thanks!


                  flatland mountaineer

                    to Slo_Hand and pr100

                     

                     

                    a major reason individuals have been showing intolerance to gluten/casein over the last 15 years can be attributed to how wheat has been genetically engineered.

                     

                    40 years ago, before genetic engineering was a business, people ate wheat with no issue. now, after years and years of scientifically altering the crop this nation survives most off of, people are slowing developing intolerances to it. i could go into more detail about how genetically and scientifically wheat has changed, but it wouldnt be necessary on a runningahead blog

                     

                     

                    if any of you out there are interested, i encourage you to read WheatBelly

                     

                    I know of no wheats used in food products that are genetically engineered other than standard breeding programs that have been around for years (centuries). It is pretty easy matter to obtain the parent lines of any hard red winter varieties (bread wheats) currently in US production and all have roots to the early European wheats (Turkey Red for example). My family has grown winter wheat on the plains of Nebraska for over 100 years. I interact with plant breeders (Rollie Sears of Kansas State retired, Thee most notable of all HRW wheat breeders) at field days every year, many lines are University bred. Hybrid wheats have not shown any consistant yeild increase and I don't know of any hybrid programs currently in existance let alone a  true GMO. Roundup ready wheats were never advanced into commercial production because of public paranoia of gmo's in human  feed crops and also can cause agronomic problems in crop rotations that depend on Roundup to kill volunteer wheat to conserve moisture in the harvested stubble for the following year's crop.

                     

                    The primary reason to avoid gluten is true celiac disease, don't have a problem with people trying gluten free diets for other health reasons although I suspect no causation. Avoiding wheat because it is supposedly GMO is not one of them. It is just not true and any wheat breeder at Texas A&M, Kansas State, Colorado State or Univ of Nebraska Lincoln would verify.

                    The whole world said I shoulda used red but it looked good to Charlene in John Deere Green!!

                    Support Ethanol, drink the best, burn the rest.

                    Run for fun? What the hell kind of recreation is that?  quote from Back to the Fut III


                    Oh roo roooo!

                      Just depends on the condition.

                       

                      Let's say that the condition you think is gluten insensitivity is actually a smoldering case of Lyme disease. You treat it through dietary changes for 6-12 months. By time you actually get the Lyme disease diagnosed, it becomes harder to treat and some of the symptoms will never go away.

                       

                      Let's say that the condition you think is gluten insensitivity is actually a lymphoma. If you had gotten it diagnosed promptly, it would have been treatable. But after 12 months of avoiding bread and beer, the lymphoma is no longer treatable.

                       

                      Just depends.

                       

                      I see your point, Trent, and I also know you are a doctor.  However, if someone comes into the office w/complaints of achy joints, fatigue, and weight gain, especially if that person is a 50-something woman, how likely is the doc to run tests for Lyme disease (given no history of tick exposure) and lymphoma (given no family or personal history of cancer)?  My experience with this was that I was told "well, you're going to have eat less (less than 1200 calories  a day while running 40-50 miles a week? really?) and just get used to it."   

                       

                      I somehow suspect a similar response is what most folks would get w/that constellation of symptoms and no compelling reason to suspect one particular cause.  So yes, going gluten free COULD cause a delay in the treatment of a potentially serious condition, but the same delay could also be caused by the healthcare provider not thinking there is anything serious wrong and sending the patient home with the standard advice to eat right and exercise, right?

                       

                      ETA:  Here's a link, and yes, I know it's just one study, but I just wanted to put something on here that was not personal experience or opinion.  http://thyroidbook.com/blog/eating-gluten-increases-need-for-thyroid-hormones/

                      Christirei


                        I think something that a lot of people don't understand about gluten intolerance (which I personally believe is a very real diagnosis) is how it is not limited to GI problems. I read a study, and unfortunately can't find it now, but you can find it on the movie Uncovering the Mysteries of Wheat and Gluten Sensitivities, that for every 1 person with GI issues related to gluten there are 8 people with neurological problems associated with gluten, like migrains, depression, anxiety and the like.  I found the posts on GMO and breeding very interesting. I have read that it is not because wheat is a GMO crop but because we have bred wheat to contain more gluten than ever before. And if you look at the American diet...we eat so much of it!! cereal or toast for breakfast, a hamburger or sandwhich for lunch, crackers for a snack, pasta for dinner and cake for dessert...we are told to get so many servings per day and we do a pretty good job of it.

                         

                        Our family is gluten free and not because any of us are diagnosed celiac. But if my youngest daughter is exposed to any gluten in her diet her skin will break out in the angriest red rash that you have ever seen. Every doctor we have taken her to has dismissed this as a coincidence, but as long as she is on a gluten free diet she is okay. I do not worry about any of my daughters being deficient in any of the nutrients that they fortify bread with.  We eat fresh, organic fruits and veggies every day, even things like kale, baby spinach, leeks, and brussel sprouts. I think that the value and qulaity of the vitamins and minerals found in real food will trump the fortied breads any day. When you take out the fillers in our diets like the rolls and bagels and starches that just fill us up and don't give us a lot of nutritional weight, then you are hungry for real, good food. And we still eat whole grains like gluten free steel cut oats, quinoa, brown rice, buckwheat and teff.

                         

                        I know it's a controversial topic, but I don't think that people need to get upset for people trying out the gluten free diet just because they themselves don't want to do it. No one in this post that is gluten free was saying that everyone else needs to be gluten free as well, it's the people that are consuming gluten that get upset by people trying out the diet "for no good reason"

                        LedLincoln


                        not bad for mile 25

                          I'm a fan of gluten.  I love homemade bread with lots of long gluten chains and lots of busy little yeasties.  I don't hate those who don't eat it.

                          Wing


                          Joggaholic

                            I'm a fan of gluten.  I love homemade bread with lots of long gluten chains and lots of busy little yeasties.  I don't hate those who don't eat it.

                             

                            My wife loves these stuff (although I prefer real meat over these fake ones)

                            TeaOlive


                            old woman w/hobby

                              I'm a fan of gluten.  I love homemade bread with lots of long gluten chains and lots of busy little yeasties.  I don't hate those who don't eat it.

                               

                              Oh Yes Smile

                              steph  

                               

                               


                              flatland mountaineer

                                  I found the posts on GMO and breeding very interesting. I have read that it is not because wheat is a GMO crop but because we have bred wheat to contain more gluten than ever before. And if you look at the American diet...we eat so much of it!! cereal or toast for breakfast, a hamburger or sandwhich for lunch, crackers for a snack, pasta for dinner and cake for dessert...we are told to get so many servings per day and we do a pretty good job of it.

                                 

                                 

                                Gluten is protein and the part that sticks the dough together. Most wheat  farm kids threw a handful of wheat in their mouths at harvest and chewed it until it formed a "gum" which is the gluten part, if it kicked it meant you had ingested a live grasshopper but I digress. Protein levels of wheat are largely determined by amount of nitrogen available from all sources (residual soil N, manure, comercial fertilizer, breakdown of leguminous N) and the amount of weather stress incurred during the growing season and rainfall on a mature crop. Variety (genetics) makes very little difference. Through the years our protein levels are relatively consistant and millers will blend wheat from different areas to get their desired 11-12 percent protein range. They need consistant raw materials to make a consistant product. A higher protein and gluten level will actually cause millers and bakers problems and they will blend down to get what they want. The idea that modern wheat varieties contain more gluten just doesn't hold water. US wheat supply and demand has remained relatively static with relative adjustments for weather induced short crops and wheat fed to livestock, I really doubt our consumption has changed much through the years. http://www.ers.usda.gov/data/wheat/YBtable04.asp 

                                World Demand has increased more as a function of the developing economies of China, India and Pakistan. I would concede that gluten is finding its way into some different food products such as imitation meats etc for texture and to add "chewiness" but really does not change total useage very much as evidenced by the USDA supply and demand tables I linked to.

                                I have no problem with people trying a gluten free diet if done under controlled conditions. I myself avoided gluten for a period of time to see if it was causing me problems along with a colonoscopy and endoscopy. It made no difference for me and as I would suspect for 99% of the population. With all the buzz about gluten in food products our wheat demand is pretty much unaffected by it all so far. World weather makes so much more difference. As a grower I just hate to see our product get a bad rap for no reason.

                                The whole world said I shoulda used red but it looked good to Charlene in John Deere Green!!

                                Support Ethanol, drink the best, burn the rest.

                                Run for fun? What the hell kind of recreation is that?  quote from Back to the Fut III

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