For sure. Times 3.

something being "all in your head" is more substantial than you think when you consider that every observation you make must ultimate go through your head before you can make it, even the things in your own body. just because people say "its all in your head" doesn't mean you're lieing, crazy, or that your problem isn't legitimate, it only tells you what the root of your problem is.

Oh yes. it is all in my head that I want to be sick as a dog, be awake all night with stomach issues and more the next day...coincidence that once I stopped eating wheat and oats i started to feel better?? I don't think so.

Scientific evidence is all that matters. You see, the thing about things that are all in your head is that you can't tell that it's all in your head.

nice job missing my point tinlou.

I partially agree. This study is not really very scientific at all.

First:

The main health concern is that people cut out all gluten as a way to self-diagnose a sensitivity or celiac disease.

This is not entirely true, since there are other reasons as well.

Many young children are allergic to Gluten but have to suffer though it until around age 4 (eczema, rashes, lethargic, tantrums, etc.) . There is also the issue of Autism. Taking Gluten out of an Autistic child's diet seems to help some.

We pack Wheat products into everything and expect no consequences which is not really a rational position. We need more inclusive studies looking at all the factors of Gluten consumption.

Finally many do probably spend extra, they do not need to on Gluten, or even Starbucks for that matter, that is their choice; if it makes them feel better let them do it! If you want to inform them you should actually have a full study and report that is not so narrow in its focus.

my boyfriend has celiacs, and his brother has been tested and does not. however, his brother is gluten intolerant. just because you're tested and cleared of having celiac, doesn't mean you're clear to eat gluten. while this article does point out that gluten-free diets are fads and not good for you unless you need them, it does a great disservice to those who are affected by gluten but are not celiacs. there are different levels of tolerance and symptoms beyond those which you refer to as "psychosomatic."

Eczema is a skin infection, rashes is a non specific symptom caused by many things, and autism is a neurological disorder. to suggest that these can be treated via diet, is the height of psudoscience.

the blame on "packing wheat into everything" for these conditions is also suspect. if wheat is in everyone's diet, and a small amount of people have 'mysterious illnesses' than logic would dictate that wheat isn't the problem, because we would expect these things to be more prevalent than they actually are, especially considering how long we've relied on wheat as a primary food source.

Tinlou, it's not about how you feel. That does not matter. Doctors attend medical propaganda school to enforce US industries. If big Pharma does not yet have an answer, then you must continue eating and feeling badly. You see if you feel sick, or are fat or whatever, you can come and pay the doctor more often as well.

Objectives:

Be fat, this way you can pay co-pays and crave more food keeping the 1% in the 1%.

Be sick, this way you can pay co-pays and use harmful chemicals which keep the 1% in the 1%.

Be miserable, you are then more easily manipulated.

Die. The funeral parlor makes money and if you were frugal, your frivolous relatives can spend that money giving it to the 1%

JohnSixty,

When you post such nonsense, do you really expect to be taken seriously?

Tinlou, I agree completely with you. I had been diagnosed with Krohns by a very well respected doctor that has a lot of patients and not much time for follow up after testing. I was placed on Pentassa for two years until I ran into an allergist that took the time to talk to me, did some blood tests, and some follow-up, and re-diagnosed me with celiacs, placed me on a Gluten free diet and resolved all of my symptoms. I have stopped the Pentassa and have made a simple adjustment to my diet. I have no more stomach distress, more energy, and as a side benefit have lost the squiggy pounds around my middle.

If you have no Gluten allergies then a Gluten free diet might not be that beneficial. That may be what this researcher is saying. I personally can attest to the benefits if there is a sensitivity.

1) Nobody said it's all in your head. It's entirely possibly you do have a sensitivity. But the majority of the people eating gluten-free are following a fad that helps nobody except the people marketing the fad.

2) People need to stop interpreting placebo effects as some kind of dismissive "all in your head" statement. Placebo -- in both positive and negative directions -- is a very real physiological phenomenon. A person can legitimately feel sick after eating gluten-based products even if they don't have a physical sensitivity to them. It doesn't mean the person is crazy -- it just means they are suffering from a placebo effect. This is part of being human.

Regardless, it is hard for anybody to argue that a double-blind test to actually determine whether a person is gluten-sensitive can't be beneficial.

Tinlou, Well Said!

It took me many years and a lot of handicapping hand eczema for me to realize that I am gluten sensitive.

Yes, I KNOW that I AM Gluten sensitive! Who else know yourself better?!

James-4436154 Actually you are wrong. Gluten allergy in children is standard and recognized by the medical community. Do some research before you start spouting off nonsense in the name of science.

I wonder how many of you would have avoided gluten (or figured out it was gluten that you needed to avoid) if it was not for all the advertising and all the products and all the hypes around it. I have not heard the word gluten until a few years ago and had to educate myself about it, part of it include questioning myself whether i could benefit from gluten-free product, which you cannot avoid asking since that's what the advertisers wanted you to do. I could easily see myself trying to answer that and fall into the placebo effect situation and then claim myself as gluten sensitive just because by nature the gluten free product is generally healthier alternative (though much crappier tasting) therefore making my body feel healthy afterwards. All I'm saying is, if you can come up with this conclusion without the help of any outside sources and information then you may have a legit cause, otherwise you may want to question yourself. But do be mad and attack me while you're at it too, it's part of the "detoxing" process of your being poisoned by marketing information.

True Eczema can stand all by it's lonesome, however, in some Celiacs (me for instance) there is a rash that develops that is consistently misdiagnosed as Eczema if you are exposed to one of the Gluten containing grains. If you are never correctly diagnosed, but you discover on your own that removing gluten from your diet helps your "Eczema" the natural conclusion for you would be that Gluten can cause Eczema. Many people believe that Eczema is the same thing as Dermatitis Herpetiformis (Celiac Rash) because it has been misdiagnosed so often. I can absolutely guarantee you that when I stopped eating Gluten containing foods and stopped using Gluten containing beauty products my "Eczema" cleared up completely. The only time I ever get the rash now is when something is improperly labeled as Gluten Free when it is not. Unfortunately that happens MUCH more often than it should. I know that it is not Eczema, but many people would not know this. Many Drs do not know this.

Celiac disease is an Auto Immune Disease, not a food allergy. The disease affects the entire system, not just people's stomachs. I was misdiagnosed with Fibromyalgia, Colitis, Eczema and a host of other issues before being properly diagnosed. My brother was misdiagnosed as bi-polar...yes, it can be that drastic. My mother was misdiagnosed with MS. I was properly diagnosed in 2006. After I was, I had my mother and brother tested as well. All three of us are celiac, but none of us had the same set of symptoms. However, the outcome is completely the same. As long as we completely avoid gluten, we are clear of all of the other issues and do not take medications. If we had NOT been correctly diagnosed and had been lucky enough to stumble across the gluten connection, we might possibly be claiming that a Gluten Free diet cures MS and bi-polarism and...and...and.

Again, it is true that you can be Autistic and have no change whether you eat gluten or not. However, just like the standard population, there is a subset of people with Autism that may also be Celiac. If they are, removing gluten from their diets will most certainly improve their overall health and in many cases may help alleviate some of the symptoms of Autism. The problem is, once a patient gets labeled with Autism, a lot of physicians stop looking for other diagnoses. With just the diagnosis of Autism, what other conclusion can you come to than that when you remove gluten from the diet and there is an improvement, removing Gluten from the diet of people with Autism is the right thing to do.

The basic problem is still this...in the US Celiac disease takes ... on average...11 years to diagnose (it took 26 years for me once I started having symptoms, 53 years for my mother) Until then people rely on their Drs for the correct diagnosis and they are not getting it. Most give up before they finally get the correct diagnosis and spend their lives being miserable. My mother and I were both heading for wheel chairs because we were in constant pain and could barely walk. I was 37 years old and thought about suicide on a weekly basis because I could not bear the thought of living my life in that much pain. It truly is a miserable disease if left untreated. The other side of that issue is that if you are tested AFTER going gluten free, you will never get a correct diagnosis. But, the thought of going back on a gluten containing diet for 30 days so you can be tested again is terrifying to most of us. Just ain't gonna happen. I had a new Dr. who wanted to "retest" me a couple of years ago. his ears are probably still ringing from the resounding "Hell NO!!!" he got when he asked if I would be willing to go back on Gluten for a month.

Claiming that a change in diet cannot help ... at least in SOME cases ... is the height of arrogance.

Everybody eats what they want. Yes, I can be convinced some people buy gluten free products and really don't need them, nor do they necessarily do anything for them.

My wife has a definate allergy to wheat and wheat products. There is not a question. It causes rash and horrible digestive issues that, while non-life threatening, cause an illness that any doctor can (and have) diagnosed. Its not like she prefers gluten free products. She WANTS to eat things that regular people eat, like pizza, you know?

But I don't think you need to be laid up with a rash to prefer gluten free products. If you want to spend the money and it makes you feel better, than go ahead.

I don't care whether or not the medical community understands what's going on or not. I am allergic to "wheat" period. My last reaction required a call to 911. I don't get irritable bowels, I go into anaphylactic shock (you know...epinephrine pen...benadryl) . At least with a gluten free diet I can enjoy some bread products. And yes...it can very definitely be life-threatening!

Ol_doc...

Keep that Epi pen handy. It has saved my mother's life more than once. Holding the reaction at bay until the paramedics to get to her.

For sure, some of what I suffer is in my head. . . headaches and sinus issues that shoot pain down my trigeminal nerve.

Some of the suffering is in my upper body muscles so my breathing is compromised and my arms ache. Then there are the nighttime cramps in my legs and feet.

We won't even talk about what gluten does to my emotional stability.

Like many others, I suffered for years before I connected the the dots and banished gluten from my body. I can tell the 'experts' about my 'blind tests'. I had gluten reactions after eating things that should not contain gluten. Why in the world would anyone consider tomato soup to be a threat? Well corporate greed strikes again -- Campbells tomato soup has wheat flour as an extender.

I now read every label of everything that goes in my cart. I also read the labels on anything my critters will consume. Cats are carnivores, wheat is harmful to them!!!!

What a pompous jerk this doctor sounds like. My DD was tested twice for celiac disease as well as wheat allergy because she was off-the-charts small. Both times came back as negative. I switched her to a gluten-free diet after she was diagnosed with autism and within 2 months she had gained 6 lbs. (25% of her bodyweight) and 1/2". She went from <3rd percentile for both weight and height to 25th percentile for weight and 5th percentile for height (our pediatrician says the height takes longer to catch up). The dr. also said that this kind of rapid catch-up weight gain is common for kids who are gluten intolerant after they switch to a GF diet.

Yes, Dr. Corazza non-celiac gluten intolerance is a very real condition...

Once upon a time a bunch of friends started telling a certain other friend that they looked awful and asked if they were sick or didn't feel good. By noon the poor guy had to go home and go to bed. If you tell somebody they look bad enough, they CAN actually get sick from it.

This isn't rocket science. People who have celiac disease must not eat gluten. People who do not have celiac but do have other health problems, such as endometriosis, infertility, joint pain, abdominal bloating/distention, may have a gluten intolerance. An elimination diet, if done correctly, will reveal if a gluten intolerance is the culprit ... or another cause altogether.

I'm thrilled there are more widespread gluten-free products available for those of us who suffer from either celiac or an intolerance. I just wish more restaurants would include gluten-free bread, pizza and pasta on their menus. There are still few choices at restaurants.

Gluten-free is NOT a fad diet. It's a lifestyle-must for those who suffer from gluten disease/intolerance.

fyi I don't hink this doc is saying there is no allergy. Just that eating Gluten free doesn't mean you are eating healthier, and so don't pay for it just because it is rumored to be.

I'm fortunate that I don't have a severe intolerence, but I am certain I have one. I spent almost 10 years trying to find the solution to my digestive issues. It had gotten to the point that I couldn't eat anything without feeling ill. I read about symptoms of celiac on the internet and self-tested. Within a week I was feeling better. What I didn't expect is the G-F diet also cleared up my sinuses so I wasn't getting the frequent headaches I had been getting for years, and the biggest surprise was my joints no longer were hurting. Since then, I have tried eating wheat products seeral times, sometimes with almost immediate discomfort, sometimes with not much of a reaction at all. But EVERY time I "cheated" for a few days, all the symptoms would come back. And it seems like each time I get them the longer it takes to get rid of them. Sometimes I wish my symptoms would be more severe as that would make it easier to keep to the diet. It's very difficult to avoid the pizza party or the donuts at work, but in the long run it's worth it.

Calling gluten-free food a "fad" is ridiculous. By that train of thought, inhalers are just a "fad" for people with asthma. There are people sensitive to the gluten in wheat just as there are those who are sensitive to lactose, peanuts, etc. The wheat consumed today is a relatively recent development and contains a form of gluten that probably isn't good for anyone; there are some people who are more sensitive to it, but it probably takes its toll over time regardless of who you are. The authors of the article are trying to fit everyone into one category and immediately I'm suspicious of who funded their so-called study. The one-size-fits-all approach will never work and there's nothing wrong with having gluten-free food available for those who need it. Some of it is expensive but as it becomes more available maybe the price will come down. How people spend their money isn't any of the researchers' business. If they're criticizing the suppliers for price-gouging, okay, that's fine, but to blame consumers and call them hypochrondriacs makes me wonder how good they really are at researching and analyzing their data.

Simply cutting gluten out of my diet changed my life. Of course it isn't really a matter of choice for me. I would prefer to starve than to take a chance.

15 years of suffering and being told it was in my head yet I had to pay those in it for the pay check doctors.

I know my body it has been mine since birth.

In Agreement,

The authors of the article are trying to fit everyone into one category and immediately I'm suspicious of who funded their so-called study.

My thoughts exactly! On point through-out your entire post!

I think a lot of people need to re-read the article. He thinks more people subscribe to non-glueten diets than need too. Specifically he says if you need to then remove it from your diet.

Articale shows 1 in 133 have it in America. How about in Italy what is the number there. Maybe all the anti biotics, overweight and transfat has something to do with it.

Not many people realize why going wheat free is actually beneficial to your health. For the most part, foods that are high in gluten are also high in amylopectin, often referred to as "complex carbs." All this stuff is is highly branched starch with some bound protein to pack it tighter. When you eat amylopectin-containing foods, your body takes longer to process the carbs - this isn't good, as it pretty much means your body is riding a sugar high for a longer amount of time. Carb consumption has been proven time and time again to be far worse than protein and fat consumption in both theory and experiment. High-carb blood levels are associated with high levels of oxidative stress, increased risk of several kinds of cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis, and thrombosis.

The biggest benefit of a gluten free diet is that it encourages a diet based on meats, fruits, nuts, and vegetables with very little carb intake (similar to the so-called "caveman diet"), unlike the "food pyramid" pushed by our lovely federal government. Carbs are bad for you when used as your primary caloric intake, and anything that helps you avoid them is good in my opinion.

I don't agree it is a "trendy fad" just because people only recently started hearing about it. I am highly allergic to wheat gluten and have the pleasure of being diagnosed with exercise induced anaphylaxis. The long and short is I could eat what ever I wanted until 2002. I then developed hives while out on a run which led to anaphylactic shock. It took until 2005 to find out I was allergic to wheat and wheat gluten. The stuff will kill me if I eat it. With all of the crap we feed the animals we eat it is no surprise people are having issues with this preservative.

In the absence of religious, family, and community roots, people sometimes develop strange ways of finding identity. In the Western world, hypochondria is often a path to achieve individuality. I am not saying all people allergic to wheat or have celiac disease are hypochondriacs (far from it) but the spread between people who actually have these diseases diagnosed and the people that consume gluten free products is enormous. This can only mean:

1) People with these conditions are not diagnosed and people buying gluten free products without going to a doctor first are self medicating.

2) People buying the products don't actually have the disease

Both of these are very bad.

Indepundent - I would agree with you except that the trendiness of the Gluten-free diet has resulted in many Gluten-Free hgh carb foods, most often made from Rice. Prior to the fad catching on, most people who wanted to go Gluten-free had to do as you posted, eat mainly fruits, veggies and meat; avoid any and everything processed. Now I'm seeing "Gluten-Free" on everything from candy to cereal to pasta and bread.

Yes if you have celiac or a food allergy then going Gluten free is a must for you. I don't think anyone was disputing that.

But there is no point in going "Gluten Light" like I see many people doing. Or thinking that because the cupcakes you made are Gluten Free that they are going to help you lose weight. A lot of people jump on any fad that they see, and because a good many Gluten Free foods are carried in the "Natural Foods" section of the grocery store, many people out there believe they are somehow better for you. The thing is that the actual percentage of people who can benefit from going Gluten free is small. Food companies are like any other buisness, they need to drive profits. So they are marketing this food to groups that don't need them in an attempt to cash in on a diet fad. Remember when in the 90s every grocery store suddenly had a glut of "low-carb" foods - breads, cereals, Atkins Ice Cream and sugar-free ketchup? People were buying them because they were under the (mis)impression that they would lose weight simply by swapping some of their regular food choices for the "diet" ones. But they weren't really following a low-carb diet. And when they got tired of funny tasting fake food and didn't lose anymore weight and the fad died they stopped buying it all and the stores stopped carrying it. The same thing is happening here. Many people are swapping out regular bread for Gluten Free but not really following a true Gluten free diet. Because truly going Gluten-Free is kind of a pain in the butt since Gluten is in EVERYTHING. I would guess that half the market of the Gluten Free convenince foods are not doing the Gluten Free diet correctly and don't have a medical need to do so. They are just trying to drop 5 or ten pounds before swimsuit season and heard that gluten makes your tummy bloat.

In Agreement - If people who don't have asthma begin to use inhalers because they read that they can help you breathe better, excercise longer and lose weight; then yes - using inhalers would be a fad.

That's what's going on with Gluten Free right now. People are hearing that GF can help prevent cancer, and slow aging and eliminate tummy bloat so people with no medical need to do so are buying these GF specialty products creating a market where before there was none. That in turn causes the specialty food industry to continue to promote GF to populations where there is no benefit, creating a cycle of increased demand through misinformation.

Xina the Awesome -- You need to get out more, or at least read some of these posts from people who really do suffer from gluten sensitivity. I'm supposed to say I hope you never suffer the same fate but in fact I hope you do, so you can develop some understanding and move on to the next topic, like people who only imagine they've had heart attacks. Eating gluten-free for many people isn't a crutch, it's an answer to problems they've had for a long time that doctors couldn't address. In many cases, gluten-free means they can give up prescriptions that only treated symptoms and were, in fact, the true crutches. Another word of advice -- follow the money trail. More people buying gluten-free means less money for the traditional wheat-based foods, then apply that to the pseudo-research described in the article.

4everamusingme -- Many thanks.

I misdiagnosed myself 10 years ago. I weighted 180. Ten years later, after many gastrointerologists including Stanford failed to find anything, I myself figured out that I was in fact gluten intolerant. I was down to 139 and now in six months back to 143. My message is if you are constantly bloated, lose your appetite, low grade stomach pain, and have a churning stomach, test yourself for at least 30 days without gluten. Read all the comments above and the real message of this article should have been "GLUTEN INTOLERANCE IS VERY WIDESPREAD AND YOU SHOULD TEST YOURSELF IF YOU ARE HAVING STOMACH PROBLEMS"

Agreed! That's the thing -- the bandwagon people jump on when they don't really understand it but they see the fad and assume there's something to it for everyone.

If you're not gluten sensitive, it's better for you than the gluten-free -- which is heavily processed to taste good.

Gluten is yummy. That's the G in MSG that makes things taste so good. Glutinous rice (sticky rice) is soooo tasty. I'm vegetarian and use vital wheat gluten to make fake meats. They're tasty and chewy (unlike tofu) and high in protein. I make chicken fried steak and buffalo wings with it!

Gluten-free isn't for everyone, just the small percentage of people who have Celiac's disease.

Um, Shaydie...MSG stands for MonoSodiumGlutamate, which has nothing to do with gluten.

I do agree that people will jump on all sorts of bandwagons. People trying to make an easy living will take advantages of them, of course.

....glutinous rice doesn't have gluten either. Rice is a gluten free starch.

Thank you Independent voter and Karlai...another problem with being an actual Celiac, no one else seems to know what Gluten is....I had a waitress in an Applebees get testy with me once because I sent back my dinner after the chef put bread crumbs on my broccoli. She said "We looked at the ingredients and Gluten is not listed" I explained to her that "gluten" is not an ingredient, Gluten is a protein in certain grains, the gluten containing grains are the ingredient you should be checking for. She called me stupid and refused to take my order back. Let's just say it didn't end well for her.

The_Mick

I may not be in all of our heads, but it's certainly in more heads than have a problem. I asked a cousin why she bought a gluten-free product. "Isn't gluten bad for you?" she replied. I pointed out that the homemade bread I make and bring to her when I visit is light and airy because I add 1 tsp of Vital Wheat Gluten for every cup of flour to the recipes to make it rise 25% more.

That's fine for her...it would literally kill me! The last time I accidentally ate a product with wheat in it; by the time the paramedics got me to the emergency room my BP was 40 by palpation...not good.

Dear 'Independent voter', as a Celiac, I was recently told that MSG does contain gluten. You're right that the 'G' doesn't stand for gluten, but apparently it is in MSG. Since my DH skin flares up after eating at a fav Chinese restaurant, that may be true. I want to find out more, but want to caution people that believe they're not related.

coincidence that once I stopped eating wheat and oats i started to feel better??

Oats don't contain gluten

Actually, regularly processed oats do. Something about the high rate of contamination during processing. Only oats certified to be GF can be trusted to many that have problems with gluten, especially we Celiacs. I speak from experience!

Something about the high rate of contamination during processing.

You're absolutely right-but pure, unadulterated oats do not contain gluten. Oat products may if processed in a facility that processes wheat/rye/barley products.

To clarify the point on oats: not all individuals with CD can eat gluten-free certified oats. Gluten-free just means that they were processed in a facility away from grains containing gluten (wheat and such). However, there remains a sub-population of CD individuals who have sensitivity to the avenin protein found in oats. This protein has epitopes closely resembling wheat gluten and thus has been found to activate the immune system. Please refer to the following article for more information: Arentz-Hansen et al. "The Molecular Basis for Oat Intolerance in Patients with Celiac Disease" PLoS Med. 2004 October; 1(1): e1.

After I was diagnosed with CD and went gluten-free but did not stop eating gluten-free certified oats I sill had some mild symptoms. All symptoms resolved after I stopped all oat products.

To add to the oat comment - the "safest" non-contaminated oats are also grown in fields for which the crops are not rotated with wheat, as is common practice. As 2014MD noted - even at that - some celiac and gluten-sensitive folks will have issues with the protein in oats that is similar to that in gluten.

For the past several years, most of the Chinese restaurants out our way have stopped using the MSG because so many folks have had problems, and I was never one that did; however, I may be able to shed some light on the connection between MSG and gluten.

After my diagnosis and being GF for 3-4 weeks - most of my symptoms were improving and one - the joint pain - had completely disappeared. Suddenly, I started to have some discomfort but not to the level of having gluten contamination. Discovered that the additive carrageenan made from red seaweed, a known inflammatory, was in a pudding with whip cream I had eaten. (See my posting on this ahead - somewhere!) Happened again with some fat-free half and half, ice cream, etc. that had the carrageenan. So checked all those labels. Months went by symptom free - happened again - this time it was a can of beans from a natural foods store that had kombu seaweed in it! Apparently, in WW II, the Japanese sea rations used this seaweed to enhance flavor - it's active ingredient is glutamic acid, and then its salt monosodium glutamate was developed as a further flavor enhancer and preservative.

On my list to research is to see if the structure of the protein in seaweed and protein in gluten are similar (does not seem to be), but I know these cause an inflammatory reaction for me. Many celiacs and those with gluten-sensitivity have issues with the seaweed/carrageenan additive, and a further issue is for celiacs with lactose intolerance as it is very frequently found in soymilks.

MAasamom: lactose is not found in soymilk, it is found in non-cultured dairy products. CD destroys intestinal villi that contains lactase which is why they cannot digest it and may never fully recover even after the damage heals.

No! I know lactose is not in soymilk - "Many celiac patients and those with gluten-sensitivity have issues with the seaweed/carrageenan additive, and a further issue is for those with lactose intolerance as it is very frequently found in soymilks." “It” being the additive/thickener - carrageenan, a known inflammatory that is commonly found in soymilk - a real conundrum for celiac folks who react to carrageenan and are also lactose intolerance - though most organic soymilks do not have this additive.

On a another posting, I do explain the inability of the epithelial cells of the villi to produce lactase due to the damage from celiac disease for many patients; a similar issue occurs with IBS and Crohn's in terms of inflammation and lactase production issues. The mean time for small intestinal recovery with
celiac disease is eight months, and NIH notes that those who also have lactose intolerance "usually" recover from this also, but that it can take as long as a year. Most studies do not follow folks for that long. So of the percentage of celiac patients who also have lactose intolerance, the reported percentage of this subgroup who recover from lactose issues varies from study to study - and is clearly dependent upon how severe the celiac disease is, the length of time before diagnosis, and how long the patients are followed.

It's true - part of me is happy that there are so many lemmings. A fool and their money...

EmilyinIowa- Sorry but my wife is one of those who gets mildly ill with rashes when she ingests gluten. And its not mental or anything like that.

This argument goes back to the middle age many people thought many illness and impediments where mental. For example, poor vision, lactose intolerance, etc....

Who is the fool really?

GimDan -

Well then, if she actually gets sick from gluten I wasn't referring to your wife now wasn't I?. Aren't you happy at the high numbers of people buying gluten free products that don't have issues with gluten?

And the answer to your question is, the real fool is the person who spends extra money on something that is more processed and less tasty because they think gluten is vaguely bad for people in general or is convinced it is bad for them based on nothing.

I eat a Gluten-Free diet because of Celiac but I would have to say I don't see the more "highly processed", yes in some cases less tasty unless I make it myself. Most of us that are G-Free eat a lot of whole foods, which means we don't eat highly processed anything anyway and everything I have in my cabinets has less ingredients and junk in it than what everyone else generally consumes. Highly processed is a misnomer but there are equally crappy g-free options to replace the typical crappy highly processed food like substances available. In all reality if it comes in a box, bag, can or jar its probably not worth eating unless it has no preservatives, food additives, stabilizers, and hydrolyzed anything that are generally not necessary.

What we probably should be looking at is people who do eat current processed foods and what preservatives people might be reacting to as well. People might have allergies to preservatives that are in just about everything. TBHQ is something to be concerned with, BHT as well. Its likely that while people have common food based allergies to eggs, milk, soy and various tree nuts they could also have allergies to food additives and preservatives whether its maltodextrin, hydrolyzed proteins and fats, or that good old MSG.

Well said, JimmyShade. People talk like it's mandatory to buy special "gluten free" products to be gluten free. In reality, although I do sometimes buy gluten free pasta and occasionally gluten free brownie mix, etc, the bulk of my diet is foods that are naturally gluten free, meats, vegetables, fruit, and grains such as oats (be careful about contamination), quinoa, rice, etc which are often healthier than wheat products anyway. The key is to eat as natural a diet as possible and I think most of us would feel better whether gluten free or not.

Emily in Iowa -- If you look at the ingredients list in gluten-free foods, generally the list is shorter than for something like Wonder Bread, for example, easier to identify, and less processed. If you want to read a horror story, look at the ingredients list for baked good made in supermarkets like Safeway, for example. Whether the gluten-free food is tasty or not, it depends what you're used to and it also depends on the brand. Maybe you're gluten sensitive also -- maybe if you eat gluten-free you'd be less testy and judgmental.

Gluten free convenince foods are everywhere these days. And they are being marketed as healthier for the general public, as if everyone could benefit from a Gluten Free diet. That is simply not true, but the subset of people who actually CAN benefit is too small to create sufficient demand. Once the low-carb craze died down it became all about No HFCS. Now people are catching on to that and the catch phrase is "gluten free". I know some parents who only buy GF cookies because they heard that Gluten causes autism. Their kid isn't autistic and they don't have celiac and they still let them have other foods that have gluten. I've see people eating GF foods at a picnic wash it down with a beer. And preaching to everyone that they feel so much better, less bloated, etc after giving up gluten. Except that they are drinking gluten while going off on their tangent so it clearly isn't eliminating gluten that's making them "feel better".

I'll have to look at that book. I lost 35 excess lbs effortlessly when I went gluten free 7 years ago, and easily maintain my ideal weight on a gluten free diet of non-processed whole foods. Rashes disappeared, IBS disappeared, brain fog disappeared, reflux disappeared and I weaned myself off proton pump inhibitors quickly. Yet DNA tests show that I cannot be celiac, don't have the genes for it. Two of the best recent books I've seen are "Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health" by cardiologist William Davis, MD. And the new book by Dr. Loren Cordain, "The Paleo Answer".

@Anddy, I'm reading Primal Body, Primal Mind and it is definitely an eye-opener! Nora has done her research thoroughly and it's amazing how much information is in there.

@Paleoman1, It's an awesome read. I have learned a great deal and couldn't be happier with my lifestyle change, with the book as a guide. The changes I have personally experienced contradict this article. For example, Nora mentions how you could be allergic and not know it, because when they run the test they are only looking for certain things. It's like saying you don't have heart disease because you haven't had a heart attack.

Paleoman1: That's a lot like my experience. I was having terrible acid reflux, so I created a database to track eating, sleeping, health, exercise, etc: anything that might point to a root cause. Simple starches stood out right away, and a bit of refinement focused it down on a few grains (wheat in particular). I dropped down to my ideal weight range very quickly and went from 6 antacids per day to none. The real surprise for me came a few months later as my 30-year battle with asthma came to an end. No more twice-daily inhalers! Being able to run 5K asthma-free has been amazing.

I get the feeling food sensitivities may be responsible for more problems than are generally realized.

You miss the point. Evidence may not exist simply because it has not been properly collected. With gluten, one has a choice. If someone stops consuming it and sees chronic distress disappear, then what is the harm in changing personal habits based on personal experience, or anecdotal, rather than scientific, evidence? Sometimes scientific evidence doesn't exist because there is a whole industry interested in there not being any. There are scientists in the employ of industries that will pretend scientific evidence doesn't exist when it does, or cherry pick evidence to support a theory while ignoring evidence hostile to it. It is finally comes down to credibility and an appeal to authority in making the argument. Someone stops eating gluten and reports feeling better. Someone else in a lab coat with an academic degree says there is no "scientific evidence" that stopping gluten consumption will make one feel better. The person who feels better therefore must be suffering delusions because a lab coat and doctorate makes one infallible. Right?

I was sick as a dog for 3 years and had every test in the book. Not one doctor said anything to me about gluten sensitivity. It was a friend who suggested that I stop the wheat bread for a week to see what would happen and guess what? All of my stomach issues settled down immediately.

Just because someone wears a white coat and offers me scientific evidence does not mean they know everything about everyone..get that straight.

wow is clueless..hope is one day you feel the pain and sickness of gluten sensitivity so you can then speak from experience and not your backside.

This is a ridiculous article! Where are the "facts" in this article?!?! Gluten does not always cause stomach pain in reference to consuming a gluten laden drink, myself as an example! After years of seeing traditional doctors for years to address my diabetes, chronic fatigue, sleep problems and acne, I took matters into my own hands; did my own research and stopped gluten and dairy 2 months ago. Change of diet in combo with various supplements--I have CURED my acne, sugar and sleep problems. All by researching my problems; 5 minutes googling "gluten free" on the internet will teach one MUCH more than this useless article. I would think that msnbc.com would post more informational, less sensational articles than this!

A one-time double-blind test probably wouldn't catch my DD's nonceliac gluten intolerance. It's the ongoing ingestion of gluten that appears to have been causing her to be off-the-charts small. To discover it, a researcher would have to compare her growth rate over several months on a GF diet vs. a non-GF diet. A kid who goes from <3rd percentile to the 25th percentile in 2 short months after switching to a GF diet clearly has some sort of real gluten intolerance, even if the celiac and wheat allergy test all come back negative.

I had the test for celiac, and it came back negative (could be that I had already cut out the wheat until just before the test). I told the doctor that did the endoscopy that I had trouble with the wheat and he said his wife also tested negative for celiac, but she feels better not eating the wheat also, so she just doesn't eat it. He understood that just because the test doesn't show the disease doesn't mean it isn't causing problems and sometimes it's better to avoid it.

i agree with wow,...belief can be a powerful thing,...its an empierical fact that people can believe themselves to be ill to the point of showing symptoms and yet when legitimate testing is done there is no evidence of any actual physiological illness...alot of people need attention,..and we learn at an early age that when we are sick we get sympathy and attention mostly from parents but also from anyone we might desire a relationship with, its a normal state of being for many people, and an unconcous unfullfilled need.....if you think you are sensitive to gluten or have ciliac then go get the test done...they are both legitimate conditions and reletively easily diagnosed....if they come back negative,...maybe its time to see a psychologist.

So my toddler deliberately kept herself off-the-charts small to gain attention/sympathy and going to see a psychologist would've caused the same kind of rapid "catch-up" weight and height gain that switching her to a gluten-free diet did. Yeah, right.

I think I'll stick with our pediatrician's explanation that she has non-celiac gluten intolerance that the current tests aren't yet able to pinpoint.

Applying blanket statements "wheat should be avoided in all forms" is dangerous. Sorry, but I am not going to avoid wheat that has been a staple of human diet for millennia if I don't have these symptoms. I do agree with you on the over-processed food we see in this country.

Wheat, rye and barley has been a staple for most man's existence but what hasn't been is genetically modified wheat that was modified to produce from wheat gluten. The rates at which food allergies and illnesses might be or might not be directly related to the over use of genetically modified staples with genes introduced from other organisms and plants might very well be rather high. It's not a stretch to think in the near future that new generations of our children might not be able to eat corn, wheat, barley, rye, rice, soy and a whole host of other staple foods because of the genetically altered foods don't agree with us. We are our worst enemy in this regards.

Wheat should be avoided in all forms by everyone, and especially those with any special sensitivities.

Nonsense. That means not drinking most beers!

It's this kind of knee jerk reaction that the article is warning about. If you are not allergic to gluten, then eating foods/drinks that include wheat is fine, in moderation of course.

External factors, personal biases, preconceived notions, and misinterpretation of results all combine to make anecdotal personal experiences nearly useless as far as being reliable sources of information.

Had the exact same issue with my son. After every meal he was on the toilet and complaining of stomach issues. He was bloated and ill for the first 5 years of his life. Doctor after doctor told us to give him Children's Tylenol and he will get better. A week after we changed his diet ....a doctor tested for celiac and gave a a full run down.

Now he is a changed young man. He is happy, not bloated and now after meals he spends his bathroom time cleaning up and brushing his teeth.

I truly understood how much it helped him after a soccer game. A parent passed out snack after the game. He ate the banana and took the granola bar, but when we got home he handed it to me (still wrapped) and said "Dad, I can't have this...it makes me sick."

Sounds like me when I was a kid. Constant acid reflux. It was so bad, sometimes I couldn't eat enough for weeks. I lost weight. The doctors tried everything, removing spicy and acidic foods and lots of meds. Except removing gluten.

So my parents kept feeding me wheat products because the doctor's didn't even suggest gluten. I finally went Paleo recently and dropped grains. My problems just up and went away. I can now eat hot wings and curry as much as I want, but if I slip up and start eating gluten again it all comes back again.

Interestingly enough, they believe there' s a connection between gluten intolerance and thyroid issues. Guess who was diagnosed with Hashimoto's when I was younger too?

And don't you think James, that if all those expectations are what you think are making people feel better giving up gluten, then don't you think doing everything the doctors wanted me to and said would work would have made me better too? Because it didn't.

Thank you Crayfisherman for making the point that unless you have been through it or known someone who was, you can't begin to understand it. I used to think ADHD was nonsense for the most part, until I saw it firsthand. You can't prove a negative. Just because you have no issues with it (at least for now) doesn't mean it is nonsense.

humans weren't designed at all. just because something doesn't appear in nature doesn't mean it's automatically unhealthy, the reverse is also false, i wouldn't recommend eating misltetoe even though its a natural plant. it all comes down to chemistry, and that doesn't change just because something is refined or bleached or anything like that.

Millions of people have found they were much healthier eating a diet with gluten than a gluten-free diet.

millions of people can be wrong, happens all the time. we use science because democracy isn't good at determining factuality, because people take personal expeareances as gospel without realizing the complexity of what their dealing with. in science we would actually set up different groups for the test, a group with a gluten free diet, a group a group with a diet that contains gluten but is similar in every other way, and a group that is told they are eating a gluten free diet when they actually aren't. this way you have the ability to compare and contrast the effectiveness of each approach and see if gluten actually makes a difference. simply tallying up the amount of people who say their healthier from a gluten free diet ignores people who say the opposite, and the things that come with any type of dietary restriction.

and that's the null hypothesis, as someone pays more attention to their diet, they stop eating things that are unhealthy all together, as well as things that contain gluten, and/or certain types of meals become hard to come by in a gluten free diet, in which case the increased health may be caused by the change in diet, but not directly to the removal of gluten from said diet.

my question would be: Why did this suddenly start to be a problem for you in 2009? Seems to me there would be more to it than a sudden problem with something you have eaten your whole life... What changed?

"just because something doesn't appear in nature doesn't mean it's automatically unhealthy"

...but what if it IS unhealthy?

not sure, that was why i was so shocked when the GI specialist suggested celiac's disease.

another interesting point is that shortly before all this occured to me, my roomate (a medical student!) mentioned that his friend had gone through a very similar experience (becoming celiac overnight, or something,) to which i replied, "what's that? wow, sucks for them."

when the doctor suggested celiac's i knew very little about it, and as far as i knew it was a genetic condition that was a lifelong issue, but as i did more research i found that people have tested positive for celiac's disease but will display no symptoms. also read that certain stimuli can result in the symptoms becoming active, r.e. childbirth, stress, trauma, etc. around the time it all occured i was going through a pretty rough patch in a serious relationship. however, i don't know if i would fully attribute this "celiac awakening" to that.

saddened-1829725 to answer your question: Celiac Disease (CD) has a genetic component that requires an environmental trigger to transform into an active disease process. The trigger could be pregnancy (hormonal changes), GI infections, or some other factor. People can develop CD at any point in their life. CD also manifests in a variety of different ways and it goes undiagnosed for an average of 10 years in the person who has it. The symptoms could be alopecia, infertility, hypothyroidism, abdominal pain/diarrhea, and so on. The person could have 1 or more of those presenting symptoms. And as the disease progresses the issues get worse (e.g. malnutrition, osteoperosis, GI cancers). Thus it is completely reasonable not to have serious problems at first and then suddenly get worse.

For many of these autoimmune disease/allergies the prevalence has been rising because of increased awareness and because of our hygienic environment. It is estimated that 1:100 Americans have CD. Researchers are working on figuring out a way to modulate our immune systems to decrease the development of these diseases. For example, a treatment for IBD (e.g. Crohn's Disease) that is being researched is parasite therapy.

do you have any personal experience in said issue? Have you suffered any problems?

I stopped gluten 2 months ago. I stopped eating wheat and changed to other flours--bread that I make myself with rice or tapioca flours - same underlying diet - and solved numerous personal problems. I have experimented and tried wheat, isolating the wheat exposure and bamm - I got zits. Some people experience rosacea with gluten, I experience acne as one problem.

I sure hope you don't have to suffer from numerous problems, only to be told by traditional doctors that all of your thyroid, adrenal tests, etc are "normal".

Why are there all these people on this board telling us that it's in our mind who have NO PERSONAL EXPERIENCE in problems or consequential resolvement of problems by going gluten free?

Science itself is an evolution - scientists learn every day - after all that is what R&D is about - science is still learning how to diagnose gluten problems.

"as someone pays more attention to their diet, they stop eating things that are unhealthy all together, as well as things that contain gluten, and/or certain types of meals become hard to come by in a gluten free diet, in which case the increased health may be caused by the change in diet, but not directly to the removal of gluten from said diet."

You are assuming that the individual had an unhealthy diet prior to the change to GF. While that may be the case for many Americans, it certainly doesn't explain the benefits for others who were eating healthy (albeit gluten-containing) diets to begin with. I didn't buy junk food for my family before we went GF so it's not like we all of a sudden cut those out. Yet my DD has clearly benefited from the switch to GF.

2014MD is right, darn it! And James-4436154 and several others are quite ignorant about these matters.

Just because some random doctor says that gluten-free is a "fad" (he may be a PR tool, after all) has no bearing on the numerous anecdotal evidence about remaining free of gluten in your diet.

Simply put: our bodies are not designed to process gluten. It doesn't give us magical powers for consuming it, and it doesn't make our bodies stronger. It just passes through (and causes some complications for some) on the way out. So it's not like a gluten-free diet means you're missing out on life, it just means you're not ingesting something that your body will poop out anyway.

To Saddened, etc, In July of '05 I had sinus surgery, at age 48. In August I started having bowl problems that escalated to the point of delirious dehydration. The docs got that stabilized, but I got increasingly sicker. I was finally diagnosed 4 years later with Celiac. The surgery was the trigger for my 'out-of-the-blue' serious illness, along with age & stress. That's how fast it can be activated.

PS- And to confirm 2014MD, in those 4 undiagnosed years, I got everything you mentioned. Serious malnutrition, lost 10% of my bone mass, and through my eventual endoscopy, was found to have developed Barrett's Esophagus, a pre-cancerous state of the cellular lining of my esophagus. And more. Still recovering…

I believe the tests to determine an active, dormant, or genetic presence of Celiac disease should be a part of everyone's routine physicals. With 1 out of at least 100 people having it, and approximently 95% of them undiagnosed, it would seem prudent from all standpoints to identify those inflicted.

To Saddened, etc, In July of '05 I had sinus surgery, at age 48. In August I started having bowl problems that escalated to the point of delirious dehydration. The docs got that stabilized, but I got increasingly sicker. I was finally diagnosed 4 years later with Celiac. The surgery was the trigger for my 'out-of-the-blue' serious illness, along with age & stress. That's how fast it can be activated.

Seminoles are Native Americans. I think you meant "semolina".

No, I do mean Seminole. That is an appropriate, if alternative, spelling. But durum and seminola are used, too.

Nomam, have you actually read the article or just the title ?? Even the researcher said that he saw people with no celiac dis. being severly impaired by eating gluten foods. What this article points out is, that since there are no test for non-celiac gluten sensitivities, it is hard to diagnose . I cannot tolerate much of the gluten foods because I have candida allergy. Nobody is telling you it doesn´t exist. What this article is saying is that non celiac gluten sensitivity is probably less prominent than people think. As I said, just because cutting out gluten foods make you feel better, doesn´t mean it was in fact gluten sensitivity. There are way more culprits to this than you might realize. The difference between "regular" people and those "know it all doctors" is that doctors do not want to make a diagnosis based on a speculation.

Yes, Rado. And that was the point of this article. That people probably over self-diagnose gluten sensitivity. Yes, you cut out gluten, feel better and it might have been gluten sensitivity. Or not. There are many variabilities. Even the researcher said that he saw "non - celiac" people being impaired after eating gluten foods .

Great explanation!! Thank you

Again, Jane, the researcher did not say you should keep eating foods that make you sick. He said that since there is no test for non celiac gluten sensitivity, it is hard to diagnose. He said that it is probably less common that people think. As I said earlier, just because you cut out gluten and feel better doesn´t mean it was in fact gluten, that made you sick. I have allergy to candida, much of gluten foods do not make me feel good :( Also, I am not big on too much onion - for slightly different reason :) Some foods that are good for you can make you feel pretty bad( or at least uncomfortable) if you eat too much. Beans, anybody ? Or too much dairy in your diet ? Not too good either. I think people are missing the point of this article.

Why does everyone assume everyone else is fat. I, for one, do not NEED to lose weight. I'm technically considered underweight (I'm sure running has something to do with that.) Should I stay away from grains because it'll make me lose weight? Grains are perfectly healthy for me.

That's actually not true - ask a grandparent or anyone older than, say, 65 about the risk of choking on a peanut. Kids used to "choke to death" on peanuts regularly and so they were regarded as dangerous and not something to let your kid eat unsupervised. What we now know is that the kids weren't choking, they were having an anaphylactic reaction that looked like choking.

Speak for yourself- my mom has a friend who got diagnosed with gluten intolerance as a child way back in the 1950's.

Kitmao, try to read the article again. The researcher did not say there isn´t gluten sensitivity. He said that people probably over self diagnose gluten sensitivity. Sight. If something makes you feel sick, do not eat it. With non processed (one ingredient) foods, it is not so hard to point to a culprit. Many gluten foods that make people sick are also processed, with other ingrediences and additives. There are tests for food allergies, unfortunately not for food sensitivities. When I first started to have problems - before I tested positive for cancida allergy - my doctor told me to keep a food journal for a month. I had to write down time and every bite of food I ate and write down the time and symptoms of any "reaction" or discomfort I had.

Steve, when I was first diagnosed with candida allergy, I was so shock to find out how many different things can set it off. And in how many different foods these things are. And there are not just in processed food, there for example in things like citrus fruits :( I had to go on elimination diet, then start taking food is small amounts and write down what happens. And slowly figured out what I can eat and what I cannot. It is amazing how even small amount of certain foods can make me very ill :(

ArrbyH - yeah, I also had to quit eating cheddar cheese :( and any kind of hot spicey stuff, I can't even have GF taco seasoning. The cheddar cheese sure hurt on top of everything else! It is very difficult to change your diet so drastically! My wife makes a delicious GF pizza, I make GF pancakes (found a great mix), brownies, corn bread - there are very good tasting alternatives.

Steve-777888

Don't know if you've stumbled across it yet, but Domata makes a fabulous GF all purpose flour. It works cup for cup like a standard flour and has very little after taste. I've only been able to find it on Amazon or directly from domata, but it is worth every penny. I've been able to make tollhouse cookies straight off the package, I've made homemade ravioli, a fantastic sourdough-ish baguette and lots of other foods I didn't think I'd ever be able to make again with out re-engineering all of my recipes. Just follow their recommendation to scoop the flour into your measuring cup instead of using the measuring cup to scoop the flour. You want to be on the "light" side of 1 cup, not the "heavy" side. They also make a great pizza crust mix and a seasoned flour for fried chicken (i just use the regular flour with my own spices) but it is available if you'd like to try it.

Well said Steve, thank you! Processed wheat flour stays airborne for 24 hrs, so if not in a dedicated GF space, cross-contamination does occur! When I was finally diagnosed with Celiac, I too thought some people were going overboard, with 2 toasters, etc. I soon understood why, as my sensitivity level seems to be quite high. When I ordered my 1st GF pizza from our local favorite who was just starting out making them, I watched as they pulled out their GF dough, put on new gloves, spun out the dough, then proceeded to add the same sauce as for the other pies, with the same dipper, and spread it around with that dipper. Needless to say, it was then quite contaminated. People new to this problem really need to think it through all the way. The worst is wait-staff who don't take us seriously and minimize the problem of just taking the burger out of the bun and declaring it GF. And it doesn't matter if it's a high, or low-end restaurant. I've been treated kindly and rudely at both. I also have the long-term DH gluten skin response that only 10-15% of Celiacs have. The day following eating at one of my preferred places, but on a busy Sunday morning, I started breaking out. I AM lucky to not get stomach distress, (though my gastro doc said my small intestine was ravaged), so my face, back and backside are the 1st indicators of exposure. I returned to the diner a few days later during off peak hours, full blown, to discretely talk to the manager/owner about it so they could become aware and learn what needed to be done differently. She became so defensive that she told me it couldn't possibly have come from there, and I really should never eat out anymore, and in fact, if I returned again, they wouldn't serve me! She actually asked me not to come back! Can you believe it? Kicked out of my local place for trying to help them help people like us!

One more point for whoever reads this. Please get the simple blood test panel done if you have re-occuring, unsolved health problems. As mentioned by others, Celiac symptoms can vary quite widely! Luckily I never had pain, but that also helped delay my diagnosis for years. Meanwhile I became so malnourished, lost significant bone mass, brain foggggged, yet retained the fat from my food, (thank you very much!) that I was in pretty bad shape by the time my allergist, of all the doctors I'd seen, guessed my skin problem (I was there for common allergy shots) was DH from Celiac. He pulled out a book and read almost exactly, my description of how my skin changed. I actually cried right then and there in the office, to finally have an answer to something I had given up about. So if you're chronically ill with the same symptoms, believe in yourself, and never stop looking!

I spent my time curled up in a ball crying and hurting from eating anything with wheat. I didn't realize I had a problem until after I ate pasta one day and almost asphyxiated. I called my doctor and he had me come in immediately and ran a gluten/wheat test and my numbers came back off the chart positive for celiac disease. I was on the verge of dying.

I have been off wheat for almost a year now and I am so much better! When I do venture into eating even a bite of wheat/gluten... I pay for it dearly. I hurt all over. My fibromyalgia is so bad when I do that. So I believe there might just be a connection between fibro and wheat/gluten intolerance.

Rendi... I was diagnosed with Fibro before correctly being diagnosed with Celiac Disease. You may have both of them, but just a little hope for you...after 2 years of being gluten free (hair products, makeup and skin products as well as food) I was completely free of fibromyalgia. Turns out, I never had it to start with...it was all celiac disease. Best wishes to you.

Anna i agree with you completely. I myself am allergic to wheat, and avoid the over-processed GF products for the most part because of their high level of starches, low fiber, etc. I know more people with celiac who are overweight (now) than not. This is a fad that i won't thumb my nose at however, because while it is annoying that some people don't do their research and pick it up as a fad, the surge of people buying the gluten free products has increased their availability in stores, making it much easier for people who DO need them access. I don't have to order things from the internet anymore. So if it increases your quality of life by following a GF diet, whether or not you need to, then do so. To each his/her own. The article is simply referencing the cost/benefit ratio.