Why is gluten the current "baddie of the month"?

I think it's a few different factors that coincidentally have grown at the same time.

1. Through random testing of thousands of people, Celiac Disease was discovered a few years back to be much more common than previously thought. A few decades back, you'd hear that it would affect 1 in a couple thousand or so (They've since found out that it was actually about 1 in 400). Tests have shown that currently, it's affecting 1 in 130 or so. It's on the rise and no one knows why, so it's getting more research right now.

2. Based on numbers in the random studies, a lot more people should be diagnosed with this disease than actually are - about 3% of that number are all that is diagnosed in the USA. Many doctors will refuse to test patients for the disease because they have outdated facts on what a Celiac 'looks like.' Many doctors don't look at food as a potential issue, even though it is for Celiacs. So many Celiacs are sick and have no way to find out for sure if they have the disease. But they CAN try the diet and feel better.

3. There have been various small studies over the years that have shown gluten to have various affects on certain groups of people (often people with other conditions, or with auto-immune disease genes in the family). Some of these are neurological, some are physical. Most of these studies were never studied in more depth, and most of them were able to find a correlation between gluten consumption and the issues, but not causation.

4. Celiac Disease isn't cured by drugs. The only thing that puts the disease into remission is diet. So pharmaceutical companies don't make money off of curing it, and they don't send educational materials to doctors about it - which is actually a major reason why many diseases become more well known. So for many years, Celiac Disease was under most doctors radars, even though it affects more people than MS does.

So, what has happened is this:

- Celiacs who have gone years before they were diagnosed want to get the word out, and without the help of the medical community at first, they started spreading the word themselves, in little communities on the internet and other places.

- Also in many cases because of the internet, parents of children with conditions that have no cure, who were desperate for anything that might help, researched on the internet and found some of these studies on gluten and its affects on people, as well as the information from celiacs.

- Also because of the internet, people who started trying the gluten free diet, just to see, started sharing if it helped them. And then others tried it, and then others - and for some people, it worked.

- And in the USA, where so many doctors aren't testing for celiac disease, or refuse to, or there was no insurance to pay for it, people with symptoms (and possibly the disease) heard about all this on the internet and simply tried the diet, and felt better.

...and then the food industry heard there could be money made, and well, now there's not only people but big businesses involved in spreading the word.

So IMO, the reason it's big right now is simply the culmination of a slowly growing spread of information. A growing number of people who are sick and don't know why are reading about it and willing to try it. Eating gluten free is an easy thing to try, compared to expensive medication, and it does no harm to check it out, after all.

And as with many things, when a lot of people start feeling better by avoiding something, you'll find people saying that it's bad for EVERYONE. :-/

It's not the baddie of the month. One in one hundred people have an autoimmune (like Lupus, MS) condition known as Celiac Disease. Your immune system attacks the villi and your body cannot absorb vitamins and minerals. The only way to treat and control this autoimmune disease is by eating gluten free. If you do not eat a gluten free diet when you have Celiac Disease, you risk osteoporosis, vitamin/mineral deficiencies, weight loss, bowel cancer and other autoimmune diseases.

Not everyone that must avoid gluten has Celiac Disease. Some people with other autoimmune diseases find a gluten free diet very helpful. Many autoimmune diseases are caused by inflammation and gluten has been known to cause inflammation in the body. Some people have a non-Celiac gluten intolerance. There's been a lot of research in past few years to show this is a very real condition (http://celiacdisease.about.com/od/glutenintoleranc...

And yes, there are some people who eat that way and don't need to. But so what? How many people eat a vegetarian or vegan diet for no medical reason? We don't question their choices. Remember supply and demand. It's got to be good for those who do need to eat gluten free to survive. When I was first diagnosed with Celiac Disease, it was extremely difficult to eat out. There were two different brands of gluten free bread. Now, 5 years later, I can eat virtually anywhere. I have so much more choice.

I hope that answers your question.

.....

It should be a part of a balanced diet, if it is not contraindicated. See here-

http://nationalnursingreview.com/2010/10/gluten-ad...

Hope it helps.

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