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Last summary folks, but there were so many, I could not include them
all. Ron Hoggan, author of Dangerous Grains, also wrote a thorough
rebuttal for the LA Times. Lets hope they publish it. Thanks everyone!
-Megan
I know someone who is gluten free because she thinks it is healthier.
she avoids gluten and dyes, and no telling what else for no apparent
reason other than I guess she just thinks it must be better for her
and her kids. I don't have a problem with that per se, but if too
many people do that then I feel like maybe those of us with actual
medical issues won't be taken as seriously. For us it is not a
choice, but a necessity. If it becomes more mainstream it might be
hard to convince people of the necessity of the diet for those who are
gluten intolerant.
I guess we can expect some blowback. Happens every time a new diet
trend comes out: "Changing your diet can be dangerous!". Nevermind
that the average American diet is really, really, really bad from a
health standpoint.
The obvious response though is that NO ONE stays on ANY diet for a
huge length of time unless there is some worthwhile difference. The
research right now is indicating that something like 5 out of 6 people
have gut changes when they eat gluten ... they don't get "celiac" but
they do have problems. When that sort of research hits the press, more
and more people will just start avoiding the stuff. Shoot, Paul Newman
started avoiding it in the 70s!
Gluten is a mild toxin, but it also has druglike effects, and no one
really wants to hear that they might have to give it up. Remember how
much resistance there was to the idea that cigarettes might cause
cancer? When doctors and nurses smoked in the hospital? And how silly
the idea was that cigarette smokers might have to do it outside the
office?
The most upsetting thing about the article you posted is the "quirky
health kick" aspect. You know as well as I how it feels to sit in a
restaurant and yearn for those hot breadsticks on the table; how your
mouth waters when you see a Pizza Hut commercial; to fake a smile and
kindly excuse yourself when everyone else is enjoying dessert at the
restaurant table (and the only thing GF on the menu is milk and you
are lactose intolerant!); to tell your child he cannot take a piece of
birthday cake because it will make him sick and feel like you have a
hole in your heart because you can't make him better; and you cannot
socialize the way you used to -- friends always have to come to your
house so you can assure the food is not cross-contaminated.
This is not a "quirky health kick". There is no other way of life for
us. It would seem, J. Cromley should consider better research. When
I google "GF, Gluten-Free, Gluten-Free diet, et." every link is pro,
informative and immediately linked to Celiac which explains the need
for a GF diet. What exactly did this person google? Even if you
google the cons of the GF diet, there are positive links!
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