The dangers of going gluten-free

Maclean's ^ | September 10, 2013 | Cathy Gulli

[rickmichaels]

The first time Margaret Dron organized the Gluten Free Expo early last year, it was inside the gymnasium of a small community centre in east Vancouver. She had recruited one volunteer, two speakers, 38 vendors and expected 500 attendees. There was no entrance fee—instead, people were to bring gluten-free goods for the local food bank; three boxes were set aside for the collection. Six hours later, more than 3,000 people had turned out, and the volunteer had to call a one-tonne truck to pick up the donations. In one Sunday afternoon, Dron realized, “there is some serious potential here. So I quit everything I had, got an extension on my mortgage, and just dove in.” Since then, “it has blown up.”

[ChildOfThe60s]

I don’t have any interest in my gluten intake, but I point out to people that spend money on gluten free stuff that you can go to an Asian grocery and by mountains of rice & rice noodles for chump change and they are gluten free. Yeah I know you can buy glutenous rice, but you gotta look for that.

I use both because I happen to like them. And they store very well for prepping...cheaply. A word to the wise.....

[KittenClaws]

More whole milk, real butter, real cheddar cheese and regular bread for me, thanks.

------

Me too.

I have never bought low-fat anything, except by accident once or twice.

I like real mayonnaise. I have always bought real butter. Nothing but whole milk.

Good food is a pleasure. No. I am not fat . ( not that there's anything wrong with that)

What is gluten anyway? All I know is, if it says gluten free, I ignore it.

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

And they got gluten free beer...

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

More whole RAW milk...not pastuerized...otherwise known as REAL MILK...and yes to the real butter, cheese and bread (in moderation)

[sleddogs]

True story (condensed version). I’m 62 YO and in fairly good health although at 228 I was a tad overweight. So last spring I started riding my bicycle, walking, eating high protein meals with lots of veggies. By August of 2012 I was down to 198 and feeling great. One morning in mid August I awoke with searing pain in the ball of my right foot. I went to the VA and was diagnosed with acute gout. They gave me a shot and a 30 day prescription of Indomethacin. Three months later I start experiencing tingling, numbness, burning, or pain in my hands, a month later it progressed to my toes and then over the next 4 months progressed to within 2” of my ankle. All the while I was going to the VA for all kinds of tests & x-rays. Two months ago they sent me to a specialist at the VA in Cleveland. I was diagnosed with (and I am not a diabetic). The prognosis was permanent & irreversible damage to the nerves. And if that wasn’t bad enough, I was told it was from the Indomethacin that was prescribed for the gout. I was told that there was medications for coping with it but they too had bad side effects.

I went home disheartened but started doing some online research and on the third day I came across an article by a Chicago University. They did a study on 215 patients with non- diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy and had great results with 47 of them by doing 5 things.

(1) Totally glutin-free diet (gluten is a neuro-toxin)
(2) Taking vitamin B-12
(3) Taking vitamin B-6
(4) Taking Acetyl L-Carnitine
(5) Taking Alpha Lipoic Acid

So I tried it, and after 1 week I was ready to give up as I had noticed no difference. About day 9 I told my wife she better pick me up some med. for my athletes foot as they were burning. Later I looked at them and they looked fine. Then it hit me, that I had feelings in my toes that I hadn’t had in over 6 months. That was 2 months ago and my hands are 100% back to normal and my feet are 80%+ back to normal. I did experiment a couple of weeks ago and had some bread, and for the next 3 days I experienced numbness and tingling again in my feet.

Gluten free products are a Godsend for me. Some are nasty and others are great. You have to read the labels on everything though as they sneak wheat, rye, & barley products into many products.

This is not a recommendation just a personal experience that worked for me. Your mileage my vary.

Some links I’ve found

http://www.naturalnews.com/029779_peripheral_neuropathy_remedies.html

http://celiacdisease.about.com/od/CeliacNeuroSymptoms/a/Gluten-And-Neuropathy.htm

https://www.foundationforpn.org/livingwithperipheralneuropathy/causes/drugscausingperipheralneuropathy.cfm

http://www.drugs.com/sfx/indomethacin-side-effects.html

[jjsheridan5]

There is nothing, absolutely nothing, in Western culture that isn't political -- and "good diet" is no exception. I give credit to the Wheat Belly author who seems to shun the celebrity focus on himself.

Nailed it. Starting over 100 years ago, we have essentially been on one big fad diet, accelerating over the last 30 years. This fad has held that vegetable products are superior to animal products, and that industrially produced "oils" are healthier alternatives to animal fats. Personally, I give far more credence to the collective wisdom of 1000s of generations, than I do to what passes for "science" in the nutritional field.

Throughout most of history, it was a) the "eternal kettle" -- soups/stews made from anything animal related that wasn't palatable; b) animal fats -- a corn tortilla is not a corn tortilla without lard!; c) head to tail cooking; d) vegetables (with a priority given to those that don't require a cow's digestive system), generally fermented or pickled.

[Sherman Logan]

The reason they began putting wheat into everything was to counter thiamine deficiencies in this country, particularly in the south.

I think you're mixed up. Beriberi is the deficiency disease for thiamine (B1), and is most often caused by people eating rice and not much else. Never been much of a problem in US.

Pellagra is the deficiency disease for niacin (B3) and is most common among people who eat corn (that hasn't been nixtamalized) and not much else, which used to be pretty common in the American South.

I seriously doubt anybody in America today has such a restricted diet that pellagra is a serious issue. Unless they decide to.

[SamAdams76]

Now I was at a TGI Friday's in Tarrytown, NY tonight having dinner at the bar and watching the start of the NE/NYJ game. Now I'm not sure if what I had was gluten-free but I'll tell you what it was, it was a bacon cheeseburger with fries and I had two "large" glasses of Octoberfest beer (by Sam Adams).

Now it was a crazy night here in Tarrytown, NY, I mean there was thunder and lightning and torrential rains and it's quite muggy outside and the crickets are chirping, chirping, chirping.

Peanuts...are they gluten free? So I'm in my hotel room right now watching the game and surfing this here Free Republic and eating a back of salt-free roasted peanuts. I have to shell them as I eat them so I'm making a bit of a mess in my hotel room. Going to have to leave a larger than normal housekeeping tip on the table tomorrow morning.

[jimpick]

I too get burning in my hands when I eat gluten. I was told I have celiacs two years ago when my immune system crashed. The amount of energy I got after dropping the gluten was incredible. Before I was diagnosed it was like I had the flue all the time.

I had all kinds of test to find it. Took a couple months of tests. Turns out I had symptoms for years and just thought nothing of them because they changed with where my body put the gluten.

Glad you found out it was the gluten. I don't wish the nerve pain on anyone.

[uncitizen]

I too get burning in my hands when I eat gluten.

me too. Hands and feet. I feel great and lighter when I don't eat gluten too.

[sleddogs]

Thanks, I forgot to mention one other big plus. For 3 years I have been suffering with Carpal Tunnel which I attributed to hours on the computer and my bicycle riding, (I do 30 to 50 mile bike rides). With this gluten-free diet and the supplements,the Carpal Tunnel has disappeared.

[sleddogs]

found this in the Gluten Free society. I was surprised, I learned something new. They are saying Carpel Tunnel may also be caused by gluten.

Headaches, Depression, Nerve Damage, and Seizures. What They All Have in Common
In one study, 70% of gluten intolerant patients had social phobias. Depression was found in 52%. These are neurological manifestations of the disease, or are related to the disease, and they are not the only ones either.

Italian researchers found that 22.5% of the patients with gluten intolerance had headaches, depression, epilepsy, & nerve entrapment syndromes such as carpal tunnel syndrome, and peripheral neuropathy.
The immune system was clearly involved in about 42% of the patients, as antibody reactivity to neural(nerve) antigens was detected. Interestingly, those who had antibodies to neural antigens did not necessarily have neurological problems. This indicates that these problems may take awhile to manifest.

http://www.celiac.com/gluten-free/topic/81333-headaches-carpal-tunnel-nerve-damage-seizures/

[NormsRevenge]

Bless you and go sit in the hot tub for a half an hour to do penance. Is it Oktoberfest time already, geesss....?

[NormsRevenge]

neuropathy is a touchy subject.

having high blood pressure and diabetes can add some interesting twitches to the equation,, from foot numbness to random hot spots of throbbing and sensations, none too present.. they can come and go.. most of mine are left foot or leg..

Diet can help a lot.. so can exercise believe it or not.. I’m still working on both.. Good luck to you!

[NormsRevenge]

oops,, none too present pleasant

[muir_redwoods]

Our research has produced different findings. You are welcome to yours.

[Amntn]

Bump

[Sacajaweau]

I think you're absolutely right. One of my biggies are these 100 calorie snacks....except I'll bet 90% of the buyers never had a "treat" snack before.

Watch Dr. Oz....he'll have you in the store buying all kinds of crap...crap you didn't need before.

After not eating breakfast for almost 70 years, I thought I would do better if I had oatmeal and a banana in the morning. Gosh darn if I didn't gain weight. I stopped that.

I weigh the same as I did when I was 17...and I'm 70.

[Sacajaweau]

What do all the newbie yogurt freaks think yogurt is made from?

[MrsEmmaPeel]

After lots of experimentation, I found that the foods that lowered his blood sugar were broccoli and avocado. Cauliflower is of the broccoli family. So the basis of the diet were those particular foods- some diary (milk and cheese) was temporarily banned, starchy vegetables were also banned, as was fruit. Protein was allowed, and eggs.

So the challenge became how to make cauliflower interesting - especially for breakfast. Well, I created a cauliflower purée which I use as an additive to practically everything. A few tablespoons in scrambled eggs, for example, makes a rather filling dish, and because cauliflower is rather bland, does not alter the expected taste.

After a time, we experimented bringing back the foods we had temporarily banned, and were met with many unexpected upsets. The biggest thing I'm finding is soy in the strangest places - after a little research I found that 95% of soy sold in the US is genetically altered. There is soy in a can of Starkist tuna!! Normally, tuna does not send his numbers up, but Starkist tuna does... I'm finding brands that I once trusted for years, I can no longer do so.

It's been a crazy road - right now, he's been without insulin for 50 days. And we're learning things about foods and how he reacts to them now that he is off insulin. I take his blood sugars a min of 4 times a day (sometimes more). Right now, he's sitting on a daily blood sugar average of 126. It wasn't too long ago, when he was much, much higher.