<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
 
Ed Vala <[log in to unmask]> wrote a long and thoughtful post to the
list regarding his experiences, which I enjoyed reading.  Much of what
he said I agree with, but there are a few points which I don't agree
with and would like to offer an alternate viewpoint on.
 
Ed wrote:
 
> for every, every problem in life, there is only one reason and that
> one reason for all of humanity's aches and pains is  GLUTEN.
 
That may be overstating it a bit.  Gluten may be the cause of other
maladies, or at least contribute to other problems, but there are many
people who eat gluten every day and thrive.  Also, there are many aches
and pain that aren't caused by gluten.
 
Ed also wrote:
 
> To get health you have to have ZERO tolerance for gluten consumption
> for the first 6 months or so, after that you will be able to tolerate
> some gluten.
 
I'm in agreement about zero tolerance for gluten (for celiacs), at least
until I see some convincing (non-contradictory) evidence that a certain
level of gluten is safe.  But I believe the GF diet is lifetime.  I
don't agree that a celiac could tolerate some gluten after six months or
so.
 
The following comes from highlights of a talk made in 1994 by Dr.
Murray, one of the experts that regularly posts to this list.  These are
taken from the March '95 issue of _The Sprue-nik Press_:
 
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How gluten-free should the diet be?  Dr. Murray believes that Celiacs
should treat gluten the same way they treat rat poison.  Celiacs
should never eat food if it is known to contain gluten.  Accidental
ingestion of gluten should be avoided as much as possible.  For a
Celiac, it is unacceptable for gluten to be ingested more than once a
month, accidentally or otherwise.
 
You can NOT judge whether a food has gluten by your reaction to it.
Many Celiacs can ingest small amounts of gluten with no symptoms;
however, the small intestine is still being damaged.
 
Dr. Murray stressed that once you have Celiac disease, you will
always have it; you will never be able to eat wheat or other gluten-
containing products again.  This is a fact of life that Celiacs
simply must accept and live with.
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Nancy Patin Falini, MA, RD, the dietitian advisor for the Greater
Philadelphia Celiac Sprue Support Group, spoke on this subject at the
celiac conference last summer in Baltimore.  The following was taken
from highlights of the talk that appeared in the Sept.  '95 issue of
_The Sprue-nik Press_:
 
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Don't use the phrase gluten-free (GF) diet, because the word "diet"
implies something temporary that could end.  Instead, think and refer
to it as a GF meal plan, a behavior change that lasts a lifetime.
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