If you’re not celiac, why isn’t cutting gluten and replacing with whole foods not worthwhile?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP I could have written your post. Two autoimmune diseases and negative for celiac. My rheumy suggested quitting gluten before trying any of the other diets out there. Three months after, my ANA and other inflammatory markers were normal after being off the charts. That was the only change I made. I don’t understand why, but it clearly causes inflammation for those of us who have these issues.

That's so interesting.. Can you tell me a little more about what you typically eat? I may be interested in doing that. And are you 100% compliant?
Do you eat total Whole Foods or do you eat processed GF substitutes?

What are the markers that saw a change? I may ask for a blood test for inflammation markers?

DP. We saw the spike in my IgE antibodies (I think, it has been 14 years). My doc basically said “look, you could eat it but I wouldn’t. It’s like a drop of water in a bucket. You are fine and will probably be fine until you aren’t.” I decided to not eat gluten but to also not care about cross contamination. So I go out to eat, will eat gf pizza made in the same oven, but will ask if the gravy is made with flour or corn starch.

Was it hard at first? I find myself pretty hungry to be honest.
Did you lose weight?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, it’s fine, you’re overthinking it.

Ok, it’s just that EVERY book I have read about autoimmune stresses the important of zero gluten and how it takes several months to clear your body from it.. it just doesn’t make sense to me. I can see how eating a lot of gluten or basing your diet on it can be inflammatory, but if you’re not celiac how is one bite of bread going to damage your immune system for months?

I have an auto-immune disease, and my flare ups have basically gone away since becoming gluten free. I am not quite as careful as a celiac (i.e. I'll eat food prepared in a kitchen with gluten), but I don't eat any gluten-containing foods.

The idea of gluten sensitivity is controversial, but I think the people who insist that it doesn't exist are being extremely unscientific. It's very hard to prove a negative, and auto-immune diseases are poorly understood. Gluten itself is a protein, and proteins are what causes immune responses...so it's not out of the question that gluten can be involved in auto-immune responses in some way. (It's also why carb reduction has nothing to do with the benefits of a GF diet. A lot of gluten-free replacement foods are higher in carbs. Of course, you don't need to eat them to go GF.)

So, basically, I don't think the science is well-understood. A lot of doctors will tell you that their patients have seen a reduction in auto-immune flare ups by going on gluten free diets. I personally have. As a scientist (not in biology or medical science), I can say that proving a negative is hard...so I'm open-minded that it's possible that one day we'll discover real science to support this anecdotal observation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP I could have written your post. Two autoimmune diseases and negative for celiac. My rheumy suggested quitting gluten before trying any of the other diets out there. Three months after, my ANA and other inflammatory markers were normal after being off the charts. That was the only change I made. I don’t understand why, but it clearly causes inflammation for those of us who have these issues.

That's so interesting.. Can you tell me a little more about what you typically eat? I may be interested in doing that. And are you 100% compliant?
Do you eat total Whole Foods or do you eat processed GF substitutes?

What are the markers that saw a change? I may ask for a blood test for inflammation markers?

DP. We saw the spike in my IgE antibodies (I think, it has been 14 years). My doc basically said “look, you could eat it but I wouldn’t. It’s like a drop of water in a bucket. You are fine and will probably be fine until you aren’t.” I decided to not eat gluten but to also not care about cross contamination. So I go out to eat, will eat gf pizza made in the same oven, but will ask if the gravy is made with flour or corn starch.

Was it hard at first? I find myself pretty hungry to be honest.
Did you lose weight?

Why are you hungry? Gluten free does not mean less calories.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP I could have written your post. Two autoimmune diseases and negative for celiac. My rheumy suggested quitting gluten before trying any of the other diets out there. Three months after, my ANA and other inflammatory markers were normal after being off the charts. That was the only change I made. I don’t understand why, but it clearly causes inflammation for those of us who have these issues.

That's so interesting.. Can you tell me a little more about what you typically eat? I may be interested in doing that. And are you 100% compliant?
Do you eat total Whole Foods or do you eat processed GF substitutes?

What are the markers that saw a change? I may ask for a blood test for inflammation markers?

DP. We saw the spike in my IgE antibodies (I think, it has been 14 years). My doc basically said “look, you could eat it but I wouldn’t. It’s like a drop of water in a bucket. You are fine and will probably be fine until you aren’t.” I decided to not eat gluten but to also not care about cross contamination. So I go out to eat, will eat gf pizza made in the same oven, but will ask if the gravy is made with flour or corn starch.

Was it hard at first? I find myself pretty hungry to be honest.
Did you lose weight?

Why are you hungry? Gluten free does not mean less calories.

PP who is GF. Yes, it was hard in the sense that I had to stop before grabbing food and check/change my habits. I’d say it took 3 - 6 months to get in the routine where I wasn’t thinking about it. I eat gluten replacements though, including bread and pizza, so it is going to be harder if you are essentially going to eat paleo now but didn’t before. I don’t remember being hungry - you can eat just as much just don’t grab a sandwich. I didn’t lose weight (because I still eat processed foods, probably) but my skin is much much clearer.
If you need ideas that are moderately healthy, gf, and work for the whole family we do a lot of:

Tacos - using corn tortillas or put on spinach or sweet potatoes
Sausage and peppers - slow cooked with onions, served on sweet potatoes
Breakfast for dinner - eggs and sausage and fruit or spinach, with gf toast or gf pancakes
Gf pasta - I like the lentil flour ones for protein - any toppings
Roasted veggies + grilled meat

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP I could have written your post. Two autoimmune diseases and negative for celiac. My rheumy suggested quitting gluten before trying any of the other diets out there. Three months after, my ANA and other inflammatory markers were normal after being off the charts. That was the only change I made. I don’t understand why, but it clearly causes inflammation for those of us who have these issues.

Another non celiac but GF by choice and doctor recommended for 4 years. I had eczema since I was an infant, flare ups stopped post pregnancy at age 30.
Developed cystic acne instead (and I never had acne as a teen) and migraines that seemed to be tied to my menstrual cycle. Out of desperation, sought help from my GP who prescribed first a GF, dairy free diet. Felt better immediately and so never reintroduced gluten.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP I could have written your post. Two autoimmune diseases and negative for celiac. My rheumy suggested quitting gluten before trying any of the other diets out there. Three months after, my ANA and other inflammatory markers were normal after being off the charts. That was the only change I made. I don’t understand why, but it clearly causes inflammation for those of us who have these issues.

Another non celiac but GF by choice and doctor recommended for 4 years. I had eczema since I was an infant, flare ups stopped post pregnancy at age 30.
Developed cystic acne instead (and I never had acne as a teen) and migraines that seemed to be tied to my menstrual cycle. Out of desperation, sought help from my GP who prescribed first a GF, dairy free diet. Felt better immediately and so never reintroduced gluten.

I would say it was the dairy, not gluten at all. I stopped all dairy and all my eczema cleared up within two weeks. I have diagnosed with dairy allergy. I also rarely eat wheat, but when I do, it is what I make myself. No issues.

[Anonymous]

How come those blue zone centenarian people in Italy and Icaria eat bread and pasta? That makes no sense, no?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP I could have written your post. Two autoimmune diseases and negative for celiac. My rheumy suggested quitting gluten before trying any of the other diets out there. Three months after, my ANA and other inflammatory markers were normal after being off the charts. That was the only change I made. I don’t understand why, but it clearly causes inflammation for those of us who have these issues.

Another non celiac but GF by choice and doctor recommended for 4 years. I had eczema since I was an infant, flare ups stopped post pregnancy at age 30.
Developed cystic acne instead (and I never had acne as a teen) and migraines that seemed to be tied to my menstrual cycle. Out of desperation, sought help from my GP who prescribed first a GF, dairy free diet. Felt better immediately and so never reintroduced gluten.

PP from above, yes! When I went GF I stopped getting cystic acne and it was glorious. I always ate dairy and still do.

[Anonymous]

Gluten products makes my mind feel fuzzy. I can’t focus properly and it makes me grumpy and sleepy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How come those blue zone centenarian people in Italy and Icaria eat bread and pasta? That makes no sense, no?

I don't have much knowledge on the subject but different populations react differently to food in part due to their diet over a long period of time. For example, most people of African and Asian heritage have issues with dairy while people of European heritage generally do not. However, apparently due to their diets over the years, people in East Africa appear to have less issues with dairy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How come those blue zone centenarian people in Italy and Icaria eat bread and pasta? That makes no sense, no?

The wheat in the EU is not genetically modified and glyphosate is banned. I have multiple people who can eat gluten-contains food in European countries without any issue but get sick immediately if they eat wheat in the U.S.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How come those blue zone centenarian people in Italy and Icaria eat bread and pasta? That makes no sense, no?

The wheat in the EU is not genetically modified and glyphosate is banned. I have multiple people who can eat gluten-contains food in European countries without any issue but get sick immediately if they eat wheat in the U.S.

Exactly this. It’s just another glaring example of things that are freely allowed for consumption here in the US that are banned in other countries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How come those blue zone centenarian people in Italy and Icaria eat bread and pasta? That makes no sense, no?

because food in the US barely qualifies as food

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How come those blue zone centenarian people in Italy and Icaria eat bread and pasta? That makes no sense, no?

The wheat in the EU is not genetically modified and glyphosate is banned. I have multiple people who can eat gluten-contains food in European countries without any issue but get sick immediately if they eat wheat in the U.S.

Exactly this. It’s just another glaring example of things that are freely allowed for consumption here in the US that are banned in other countries.

They also have a high incidence of celiac and the govt gives out vouchers to buy gf food. Same in Ireland!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How come those blue zone centenarian people in Italy and Icaria eat bread and pasta? That makes no sense, no?

The wheat in the EU is not genetically modified and glyphosate is banned. I have multiple people who can eat gluten-contains food in European countries without any issue but get sick immediately if they eat wheat in the U.S.

Exactly this. It’s just another glaring example of things that are freely allowed for consumption here in the US that are banned in other countries.

So then, is it not the wheat that is the culprit? It is what is added here to the wheat?