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I've just recently cut out dairy and corn after being biopsy-diagnosed with
celiac disease for the past 9+ years.

I do miss mightily my comforting glass of lactose-free milk and cookies, but
once I realized what a direct effect dairy had on my migraines (a blinding
migraine, lately, after each glass of milk), I had to give it up. Believe
me, it wasn't done lightly.

We've learned the hard way and are repeatedly reminded that the damage done
by celiac disease to our villi and internal microbiome can affect us long
after institution of the gluten-free diet. There is ample evidence that
celiacs have a very high rate of multiple autoimmune issues and allergy.
These are reasons enough to mitigate the source of continuing symptoms. I
miss corn (nachos were our go-to snack) but I'm not willing to be bloated up
to look like I'm 7 months pregnant and be in constant gastric distress for
24 hours, this is not an acceptable way to go through the day. I must admit,
that I feel a little defensive about being accused of food masochism for
trying to straighten out my diet. Cutting out foods seems to be the opposite
of buying into consumerism; it's taking control of your health instead of
letting the market tell you what is good to eat.

I'd really like to see a study that shows that celiac patients are ingesting
less food nutrients than non-celiac patients do. I seriously doubt that,
despite the mainstream press's willingness to cast aspersions on the diet.
Yes, our cookies are fattier and probably aren't being produced with
enriched flour, but most of us eat far less bread, cookies, pasta, etc.,
than we did before diagnosis. My guess is that we eat fewer empty calories
in general.

The major foods that people quit eating for health reasons are in the top 8
allergens: milk, wheat, soy, eggs, tree nuts, peanuts, fish and shell fish.
None of these foods have a corner on any one nutrient, so it's not hard to
replace lost calcium and protein, for instance.  It's quite possible that
someone who avoids, say, corn, milk and soy will add a much greater
proportion of healthy fruits and vegetables than most people will bother
with. It may be too broad to say that avoiding problematic foods leads to
malnutrition; it's possible, and I feel, likely, that those with the
where-with-all to avoid these foods have a better awareness of nutrition in
general.

Since it's very difficult to find non-GMO corn and soy, it could well be
that these foods will also have either a direct effect or an allergic effect
in celiac patients because of their GMO status. Studies on animals have
found problems associated with GMO foods, such as organ failure and
infertility, but very little human testing has been done. This is pretty
scary considering that, say, GMO Bt containing food is known to seed the
intestines with active Bt bacteria after ingestion. Here are a couple of
articles about the GMO problem.
http://www.rapaluruguay.org/transgenicos/Maiz/Genetically_Maize.pdf ,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/monsantos-gmo-corn-linked_n_420365.html

Kit in St. Louis

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