<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Cheryl in PA recently posed the question, "How much gluten
must one ingest and for how long before doing a gluten
challenge biopsy?"

That is like asking how much cold and for how long can a
person be exposed to before reaching hypothermia? Or how
much heat and for how long can a person be exposed to
before reaching heat stroke? The whole idea of exposing a
person to potential doom just to see if their body is
equipped to handle it (or not) is a foolish, foolish
thought.

Hey, if I became sick every time I wore a blue shirt...
guess what??? I wouldn't do it. Maybe there's no diagnosis
for it, maybe the whole world - doctor's included - would
call me a "nutcase". But I wouldn't wear bleepin blue
shirts just to "test the theory out". Especially if in the
end the test result will likely be "inconclusive".

I realize (all too well) that being exposed to gluten is a
less controllable matter, certainly. But just to shine a
little light on the idiocy of "gluten challenges".

Folks - gluten intolerance is real, and if celiac disease
(just a mere subset of gluten intolerance) is not also
clinically present, there is not a single dipstick, probe,
or indicator (with the possible exception of Dr. Fine's
Enterolab tests) that will tell you, "yep, you have this
condition."

Megan Tichy, Ph.D.
Texas A&M University

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