Posted on 03/25/2012 5:36:09 PM PDT by James C. Bennett
I had no sense of well being till I went gluten free. I don't use my inhaler anymore. My skin rashes disappeared. The testimonials are startlingly earnest. Although food fads come and go with wearying regularity, perhaps it's time we investigated wheat. Why are a small but steadily increasing number of people going gluten-free, and saying it's changed their lives.
Perceived as a Western disease,' gluten sensitivity has never really been taken seriously in India. Its most extreme form is Celiac disease, caused by acute allergy to gluten, present in wheat and related grains such as barley and rye. A lack of awareness has meant it remains highly under-diagnosed. Last year Dr. B.S. Ramakrishna, Professor and Head, Department of Gastroenterology, CMC Vellore, wrote an editorial in the Indian Journal of Medical Research calling Celiac disease an impending epidemic, and stating that what we see clinically is the tip of an iceberg that threatens to grow bigger.
Meanwhile, fitness professionals and nutritionists are noticing that many people have non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Unlike traditional allergies, which cause immediate reactions, gluten sensitivity is harder to pin down since it's gradual and comes in various forms: headaches, stomach cramps, bloating, anxiety, depression This is why Chennai-based NCCA-accredited fitness trainers Raj Ganpath and Arvind Ashok, who run The Quad, advise all their clients to go completely gluten-free for six weeks as an experiment, to understand their allergies and heal their guts.
Hippocrates said all disease begins in the gut,' and gluten can gradually erode the villi in your small intestine, prohibiting your body from absorbing nutrients from food, says Arvind, adding that almost everyone suffers from some gluten sensitivity. Yet, he adds, people resist giving up their chappatis, bread, pizza and pasta. Our grandparents ate this' doesn't hold good any more since we're now consuming new strains of wheat. Dr. B.S. Ramakrishna concurs, stating that unlike ancient diploid wheat varieties, modern hexaploid wheat has highly antigenic glutens, more capable of inducing celiac disease.
Raj and Arvind don't stop with restrictions on wheat they recommend drastically cutting down on grains, replacing them with Real Food,' that is, organic fruits and vegetables, lean meats, wild caught seafood, country eggs, milk and milk products. Raj says he gave up wheat when he discovered it triggered his asthma. Now he advises clients to do the same. Before you cry into your aloo-parathas, here's the kicker. The key is to heal your gut. To make it stronger. Once you do that, even if you are gluten sensitive, you can eat pasta occasionally. You'll be fine, as long as wheat doesn't go back to being a diet staple.
Unless of course you're a Celiac. Jeeva George-Abraham was forced to completely give up gluten when diagnosed with Celiac a few years ago. I've always had a sensitive stomach. Then in 2009, I had a spate of infections, swollen ankles, rashes... She was consistently misdiagnosed, a result of a lack of awareness of the condition. Next came depression and anxiety so debilitating, she found herself unable to work. I finally decided to quit my job and find out what was wrong. She was eventually tested for wheat allergy. It changed my life.
Going gluten-free means more than giving up bread and chappatis. Soya sauce has wheat. Sambar has asafoetida. Cornflakes have malt extract. There was so little information available, so I figured out a lot of things on my own, says Jeeva. Today, she runs the Facebook page Gluten Free Living in India,' offering advice and recipes. Like others, she says that the Indian diet, particularly the rice-dependent South Indian one, offers more options for a diet low in gluten.
Meanwhile, gluten-free businesses are slowly germinating. In Bangalore Shwetha Muthanna runs the Gluten Free Bread Boutique using a range of approved ingredients to make bread, bagels, pizza dough and cookies: sorghum, rice, millet, tapioca, corn flour, guar gum, flaxmeal, honey and fruit pulp.
Dr. Ramakrisha says more Indians are being diagnosed with celiac disease. He cautions that since wheat has higher protein content than other cereals we should not restrict it in someone who does not have a problem with it. While millets are substitutes, he says they do not contain as much protein as wheat.
If you suspect you are gluten sensitive but giving it up for ever seems too hard, try Raj and Arvind's six-week experiment. Try it honestly. In the end, at the very worst, you've not eaten chappatis for six weeks, says Raj, adding, If you want to go somewhere you have never been, you have to do something you have never done.
Of interest, ping.
Thanks!
I am extremely insensitive to gluten. I insult it in public, step on its toes, call it names. That sort of thing.
You sick SOB!
Getting gluten out of my diet changed my life and got my autoimmune disease under control after 12 years of struggling with depression and fatigue symptoms.
I love that restaurants are starting to catch on and offer good gluten free alternatives.
I HATE that hollywood and TV seem to think it’s cool to paint gluten free people as the jerks and losers in their entertainment.
People who just “try” gluten free to see if they feel better or can lose a little weight are also damaging the restaurant experience, because they don’t worry about “a little” gluten or cross contamination. As a result, restaurants don’t always think they have to worry about cross contamination. Those of us that are gluten sensitive (tested and medically verified) and have health problems from it, even cross contamination takes me at least a week to feel good again.
Anyway, please don’t make fun of Gluten Free people. You don’t know the h*ll to food supply in this country causes us.
Recent work regarding messenger RNA in Rice suggests another trigger for Sprue, whether "tropical" or simply a gluten intolerance.
Seems rice has little teeny tiny RNA fragments that can get in through your intestines and go to your brain and insert themselves in the nervous tissue ~ and tell you "EAT MORE RICE". This stuff also instructs the intestinal tract how to digest rice more efficiently.
The possibilities here are, of course, ENDLESS!
I am completely insensitive to gluten. I eat every day with no adverse reaction. It’s a protein that has supported the human race for millennia.
1. Avoid anything with flour/wheat
2. Take LOTS of probiotics & fermented food (saurkraut, Keifer, yoghurt)
3. Once or more per day drink a shake containing water, a couple tablespoons of psyllium husk and powdered bentonite clay (buy at some weird hippy store).
4. Raw Apple Cider vinegar, also
Do that strictly for about 9 or 10 months and you’re fine —doesn’t work right away.
Your rashes and lots of your sniffles will be done.
So you're a gluten for punishment...
Ummm, so if I am gluten-insensitive, why do I have to worry about it?
I don’t think that I’m gluten sensitive or insensitive... I just know that ever since (2 months ago, at age 58) I’ve really, really tried to eliminate it from my diet, I’ve lost 20 pounds.
I work on the “2 sentence” diet:
1: The only fatal mistake is to skip breakfast.
2: Get rid of pasta and bread.
You can make a joke of it but it nearly killed me. A wheatthin will knock me down for 18 hours and give me cramps, body aches and any number of issues. I laughed when I first heard about this then I got it. If I get a little cross contamination I feel like crap for days. No joke this crashed my immune system.
I’m on the FreeLoaders diet.
I only eat when someone else is buying.
I’ve lost lots of weight since I started, and saved some $$ too ;-)
I am extremely insensitive to gluten. I insult it in public, step on its toes, call it names. That sort of thing.
So you’re a gluten for punishment...
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