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        I am gluten intolerant.  I have never had a biopsy, but had a very
high secretory IgA titer.  However, my family history is repleat with immune
disease, full of gluten intolerance-associated diseases passing down through
the generations in my maternal-maternal line (a horse pedigree afficianado
would call it the 'tail female line'). I was overweight when consuming
gluten.  Also, paradoxically, usually constipated (except for the few times
when, having bought a wheat grinder and bread kneading machine, I went on
bread eating benders, got very ill, and had the classic celiac diarrhea).
Since I was chronically overweight and rarely suffered from diarrhea, no doc
ever thought to check for celiac.  However, I was desparately plagued was a
terrible eczema that sounds suspiciously like DH from birth to my middle 30's.
        Starting Sep-95 I went on gluten free diet.  I was making no other
attempts to regulate intake or lose weight.  I happened to get on the scales
just after Christmas--expecting bad news and ready to face the New Year with
a diet.  To my great surprise I was down 6 pounds instead of up the
customary 4.  The unexpected weight loss continued.  At one time this summer
I was down to 122 lbs, which hasn't been my usual weight in 25 years.  Since
most of my clothes were no longer fitting, I deliberately started eating
more.  I had been on very low fat diets for weight control decades before
they became the current diet fad.  It didn't take a rocket scientist to see
that was where most calories are hiding, and also I couldn't digest or
handle fats well before I went gluten free.  However, I now eat a high fat
diet--though I am very, very scrupulous about the quality of fat.  Liberal
use of highest quality virgin olive oil, second choice is canola oil; I eat
freely of foods high in unrefined fats in their native state, like
nuts(which I tolerate well) and avocado.  But no hydrogenated fats
whatsoever(no margarines, shortenings or foods rich in them), and little
refined oils otherwise.  In spite of my new 'high fat diet', I maintain a
normal weight.  I never need to diet or count calories at all.  This is just
a marvel to me.  All my family and friends are impressed by my new,
attractive, lower weight.  Since I have been on and off one diet or another
since the age 12 until going gluten free, this is just amazing.
        Whenever I see another Jenny Craig commercial on TV (or some other
weight loss clinic), I always think to myself that people who go to these
clinics should have a check for gluten intolerance as part of their clinical
work-up.  If my experience is valid for others, putting obese
gluten-intolerant people on continuous weight management regimes is
inappropriate unless and until their gluten-intolerance has been identified
and addressed.
 
lynn worden
 
Lord,
Let me seek the truth,
but preserve me from the company of those who have found it.
--West Texas prayer