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People who think gluten free diet is a fad

thejuggler

I saw some comment in a thread on this forum recently along the lines that the poster couldn't wait until the gluten free diet fad was over.

Not sure if this is a commonly held belief but speaking as a coeliac diagnosed over 30 years ago (over 1% of people in Ireland have coeliac disease) it's not a fad for any coeliac - following the diet is what keeps us healthy.

Rant over!

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failinis

I do not mind the people who ARE on a diet fad (me saying this as an IBS person) as it means products for people with digestive issues get a wider range.

Wigglepuppy

Yeah coeliac disease does exist. There may be people misdiagnosing themselves as gluten intolerant though. I don't have the greatest wheat tolerance - it can cause bloating and sinus trouble (hot!) but I'm not coeliac either though. Coeliac disease is extreme stomach pain isn't it?

suicide_circus

The is a far bigger gluten free industry than actually diagnosed coeliacs. Lots of slow witted people have conflated gluten free with "healthy" low cal type food. Ca-ching.

Steve

Yeah, those that wear the coeliac outfit on French beaches deserve what they get...

Wait, what?

The_Valeyard

All I know is the South Park episode based on this was hilarious.

Grayson

Your Face

Epic rant.

Chromosphere

Wigglepuppy wrote: »

Yeah coeliac disease does exist. There may be people misdiagnosing themselves as gluten intolerant though. I don't have the greatest wheat tolerance - it can cause bloating and sinus trouble (hot!) but I'm not coeliac either though. Coeliac disease is extreme stomach pain isn't it?

No, Coeliac disorder can be largely symptom free until it starts to do damage. It basically is an evolutionary leftover from an era when we didn't have wheat in our diets, rather than a disease.

A Coeliac's immune system misinterprets gluten as a dangerous pathogen and attacks it vigorously where it's in contact with the surface of the intestines. In the process it damages the surfaces of the intestines, particularly the villi (the hair/carpet like protrusions that increase the surface area or your intestine and basically allow it to absorb food).

The risk for a Coeliac is if they keep triggering that response it can damage your intestines badly enough that it can make it impossible to absorb nutrients and you'll end up with dangerous deficiencies, it can cause the intestines to fail to digest due to being swollen or damaged which can lead to painful or unpleasant side effects as bacteria ends up working on the undigested food or it can even cause bad damage like perforations and even cancer.

So for a Coeliac this stuff is very, very serious - it's not just an upset stomach or an allergy.

Also Ireland has a fairly high prevalence of this because some people have ancestry that comes from areas of Europe that didn't have access to modern wheats - parts of Ireland, Scotland, Scandinavia etc

Realt Dearg Sec

thejuggler wrote: »

I saw some comment in a thread on this forum recently along the lines that the poster couldn't wait until the gluten free diet fad was over.

Not sure if this is a commonly held belief but speaking as a coeliac diagnosed over 30 years ago (over 1% of people in Ireland have coeliac disease) it's not a fad for any coeliac - following the diet is what keeps us healthy.

Rant over!

Rant unnecessary. The whole point is that it's a fad among people (including my missus) who follow a gluten free diet with no gluten intolerance.

cursai

Do you even read much Bro?

Grayson

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

Rant unnecessary. The whole point is that it's a fad among people (including my missus) who follow a gluten free diet with no gluten intolerance.

yep, they fart a few times and go to some quack who tells them they have a gluten intolerance.
Or they polish down a bag of donuts and half a sliced pan and feel like ****, therefore they're gluten intolerant.

Realt Dearg Sec

Grayson wrote: »

yep, they fart a few times and go to some quack who tells them they have a gluten intolerance.
Or they polish down a bag of donuts and half a sliced pan and feel like ****, therefore they're gluten intolerant.

Or they're not gluten intolerant but just believe gluten=bad and gluten free=good.

Or they're gluten intolerant except for every now and then when something particularly yummy is on the menu at a restaurant. I once went out with a girl in college who was gluten intolerant but would eat a pasta if it was from a fancy enough restaurant. I think she was just intolerant of reasonably priced food. And liked attention a lot.

I think that last one is a big part of it. Some people aren't very interesting, so having something like this to draw attention to themselves when they're in a restaurant or visiting someone for dinner means that they need to be specifically catered to and worried over. It gives them an unearned sense of importance.

Chromosphere

I'm a Coeliac and I would absolutely love to be able to eat gluten. I really liked good bread and all the gluten free stuff is generally horrible.

I just don't even try it anymore. I just generally avoid dishes that might be wheat based at all.

The biggest problem is the world runs on sandwiches, at least in Europe anyway. It can be very difficult to get lunch sometimes.

For example head to somewhere like Costa and absolutely nothing other than a horrible prepacked brownie is wheat free.

In general thought you just find your options hugely reduced.

You also get weird ones like things that have nothing to do with wheat sometimes are laced with it. Even some brands or oven chips!

mrswhiplash47

failinis wrote: »

I do not mind the people who ARE on a diet fad (me saying this as an IBS person) as it means products for people with digestive issues get a wider range.

I was diagnosed with IBS (had all the tests and nothing showed up) for ten years, but I knew there was something wrong when I have to rush to the toilet an hour after I had eaten, I knew something was wrong.Long story short I had an intolerance to wheat and dairy. Happy days. Believe me it's not a fad.

mrswhiplash47

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

Or they're not gluten intolerant but just believe gluten=bad and gluten free=good.

Or they're gluten intolerant except for every now and then when something particularly yummy is on the menu at a restaurant. I once went out with a girl in college who was gluten intolerant but would eat a pasta if it was from a fancy enough restaurant. I think she was just intolerant of reasonably priced food. And liked attention a lot.

I think that last one is a big part of it. Some people aren't very interesting, so having something like this to draw attention to themselves when they're in a restaurant or visiting someone for dinner means that they need to be specifically catered to and worried over. It gives them an unearned sense of importance.

You haven't a clue :mad:

Realt Dearg Sec

mrswhiplash47 wrote: »

I was diagnosed with IBS (had all the tests and nothing showed up) for ten years, but I knew there was something wrong when I have to rush to the toilet an hour after I had eaten, I knew something was wrong.Long story short I had an intolerance to wheat and dairy. Happy days. Believe me it's not a fad.

To reiterate, it's not a fad for people with an intolerance. It's a fad among people who are using it as a weight-loss program.

Realt Dearg Sec

mrswhiplash47 wrote: »

You haven't a clue :mad:

Not sure how anything I said contradicts anything you said about your situation. But if you want to take it personally and infer that I meant that YOU are only pretending to have a problem, go on ahead.

Junkyard Tom

A guide on gluten intolerance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oht9AEq1798

mrswhiplash47

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

Not sure how anything I said contradicts anything you said about your situation. But if you want to take it personally and infer that I meant that YOU are only pretending to have a problem, go on ahead.

I still say you haven't a clue. Read up on food intolerance. If you haven't suffer food intolerance why post ?

B.A._Baracus

IMO, there is a big difference between a gluten free diet (because you have to) and the marketing spiel out of food companies. Which that is a fad. So many companies out there that don't even contain any wheat in the products now say "gluten free" - because it's the hot term... The in marketing term... what ever you wanna call it

Wigglepuppy

mrswhiplash47 wrote: »

I still say you haven't a clue. Read up on food intolerance. If you haven't suffer food intolerance why post ?

What do you mean? All they're saying is that some folks say they are gluten intolerant when they clearly aren't - they still manage to eat foods with high levels of gluten when it suits, and they have nothing like the symptoms which you or others with coeliac disorder have. They're probably folks like myself who sometimes feel tired and/or bloated after wheat-based foods, and/or experience sinus discomfort at times, but are not coeliac.

They didn't say at all that coeliac disorder does not exist.

mrswhiplash47

Wigglepuppy wrote: »

What do you mean? All they're saying is that some folks say they are gluten intolerant when they clearly aren't - they still manage to eat foods with high levels of gluten when it suits, and they have nothing like the symptoms which you or others with coeliac disorder have. They're probably folks like myself who sometimes feel tired and/or bloated after wheat-based foods, and/or experience sinus discomfort at times, but are not coeliac.

They didn't say at all that coeliac disorder does not exist.

OMG never mind !!!!

Realt Dearg Sec

mrswhiplash47 wrote: »

OMG never mind !!!!

I won't.

[Deleted User]

Of course it's an issue for some.

And of course it's a fad for many.

Had a girl recently get rather annoyed when I referred to it as a fad - she said that her mother, father and all her siblings had it too, as if numbers gave it legitimacy when of course it does the opposite and suggests both self diagnosis and ridiculous over diagnosis. Had seen her eating products with gluten without a care in the world before...but do know she's trying to lose weight and the useful thing about gluten intolerance is that it neatly ties in with the whole "cutting out bread" routine popular with those trying to lose a few pounds.

Special Circumstances

This thread is like a biker saying beards are not a fad right now because he's always had one and will always have one.

c montgomery

thejuggler wrote: »

I saw some comment in a thread on this forum recently along the lines that the poster couldn't wait until the gluten free diet fad was over.

Not sure if this is a commonly held belief but speaking as a coeliac diagnosed over 30 years ago (over 1% of people in Ireland have coeliac disease) it's not a fad for any coeliac - following the diet is what keeps us healthy.

Rant over!

About 1% are celiac but in restaurants about 15% of people identify themselves as celiac as they feel their meal will be prepared "fresher" according to some guy on the radio a few weeks ago from the restaurant industry
It's not a fad to 1% but to the rest .....

Staph

It's a fad if you diagnose yourself as coeliac/intolerant. Unless you have been formally diagnosed by visiting qualified medical doctors/consultants, you are not coeliac. My sister has coeliac and has to be careful with preparing foods and going out. People who profess 'intolerance' are usually attention seekers or are trying to lose weight by excluding certain things from their diet.

They will eat gluten containing products as they never look at the label to confirm if gluten free, just avoid bread etc. Many day to day products contain gluten (like oven chips) or sauces, but for these 'intolerant' people it's only an issue when they visit restaurants and other peoples houses and have the opportunity to feel special with their feigned illness.
If we are going to a restaurant with my sister she will look at their menu online and sometimes call ahead to check on specific dishes, no drama when we go to order.

Outlaw Pete

If you stopped eating gluten you'd feel way fucking better all day. Whenever you feel shitty, that's cause of gluten. Gluten's really a vague term. It's something that's used to categorize things that are bad, you know? Like calories, that's a gluten. Fat, that's a gluten.

Winterlong

I reckon I have a slight gluten intolerance.

A friend of mine convinced me to go on a wheat free diet for a week recently. I definitely felt a bit better. More energy and more stable stomach.
But I really did miss having bread....and my weekly pizza and the odd beer.

So now I just try to cut down - not totally eliminate- on wheat products.

hairyslug

I love doughnuts for breakfast