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Someone wrote me an email that made it clear to me that my comments 
were confused with other people's comments. Here is mine, in response 
to: 
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-gluten7-2008jul07,0,6367449.story

As someone with celiac disease who has spent the last five years 
trying to educate the general public about the need for gluten-free 
foods, the title of an article in Sunday’s health and fitness section 
caught my eye. It read, "Going Gluten-Free: Even those with no medical 
need are modifying their diets. But is it healthy?" The article reads 
"We see some self diagnosers who have read about celiac disease on the 
Internet or heard about it from a friend and have made a kind-of 
self-diagnosis. This can cause unnecessary worry, dietary 
restrictions, and expense." In the last paragraph "gluten-free" is 
referred to as a quirky health kick. "If you just google the silly 
thing, there's all sorts of dieticians and medical professionals 
against it. They're just not organized yet to [band together and] say, 
'You know what? This is ridiculous.'”

The article targets folks who go on the gluten-free diet for no 
apparent reason. The message she sends, however, negatively affects 
me, and my ability to eat safely outside of my home. If I eat at a 
restaurant and my meal is not “gluten-free” I get a whopping migraine 
and severe intestinal cramps within 20 minutes. I won’t tell you what 
the rest of the night involves and hopefully it won’t involve an IV in 
the ER. Reactions among the gluten intolerant range in severity and 
others might react differently. Think about my dilemma. Usually my 
server will have no idea what gluten is, so I have to explain that I 
cannot eat wheat, rye, or barley, and that these are in a lot of 
sauces and flavoring agents. The routine gets old, but every time I 
must explain that I’ll get very, very sick if my food is contaminated 
with these ingredients. This time is different, however. I no sooner 
say, “I need my food to be gluten-free,” and he replies, okay, yeah, I 
know what gluten is – I just read an article in the paper about going 
gluten-free. Just when I want to welcome the opportunity to sit back 
and retire the old song and dance, I must work even harder to convey 
my message. Now I have to dispel this myth that is growing among the 
general public that I am part of some “quirky” group of 
hypochondriacs, or that I am taking a ride on the gluten-free 
bandwagon.

American doctors have managed to diagnose 3% of people with celiac 
disease. It is 97% undiagnosed. Where are all of those celiacs? One 
out of every 133 people has celiac disease, but at least one out of 
every 20 people has an adverse reaction to wheat and related grains. 
Are these people “self-diagnosers?” just because they have learned 
that going gluten-free has improved their health? Too many people 
raise a brow when I say that I have celiac disease, including medical 
doctors. It is hereditary, so we have had several family members 
tested. My son’s specialist asked me, “but are you biopsy diagnosed?” 
Translation, “did you qualify as one of three percent of celiacs in 
the country?” Yes. My father’s doctor said, “you don’t need a test for 
celiac disease – you are 60 years old. If you had it you would know, 
and you’ll never follow that diet anyway.” He wouldn’t test him. An 
article that cries, “the gluten-free diet may not be healthy” adds 
fuel to this fire.

Celiac disease may be triggered at any age, and it is twice as common 
as Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis and cystic fibrosis combined. 
Untreated, it can lead to infertility/multiple miscarriages, premature 
births, reduced bone density, neurological disorders, malignancies, 
thyroid disease, diabetes, and/or autoimmune liver disease. Once the 
gluten-free diet has been established patients may feel better within 
days. If too much damage has been done, a full recovery may not be 
possible. A gluten-free diet will interfere with the ability to make 
an accurate diagnosis, so the author sends one good message – do not 
start the diet until after you have been tested for celiac disease.

But is it healthy? Make no mistake. The gluten-free diet is healthy. 
Look at a typical list of gluten-containing items: cookies, cake, 
pastries, cereal, soy sauce, emulsifiers, thickeners, pasta and beer. 
You cannot tell me that cutting these things out of my diet is going 
to make me unhealthy. One might argue that when you merely find a 
gluten-free replacement for all of the items listed above, and call 
that your “gluten-free diet”, vitamin deficiencies are inevitable. 
More often than not, however, people who abide by a gluten-free diet 
find themselves in health food stores shopping for organic and whole 
foods. I eat more fruits and vegetables now than I ever have. This is 
because the only treatment for celiac disease is a strict, lifelong 
gluten-free diet.

This author is barking up the wrong tree. If she really aims to better 
the health of her readers she should try this approach: The American 
diet. Even those who are obese and malnourished stay on it. But is it 
healthy?
Here is a message worth banding together about: There are several 
routine tests for celiac disease, yet it takes an average of 11 years 
for a symptomatic patient to be diagnosed. That, my friends, is 
ridiculous.

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