Gluten Intolerance (Video)

What is gluten intolerance? Why has it become so common? Dr. Weil takes a look.

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Comments

[Catherine Walker]

How interesting to know that the Chinese don't exhibit gluten intolerance. I ate very little wheat as a child - I hated white bread - maybe I didn't build up a tolerance. I took wheat out of my diet for a month last year and the effect was phenomenal. I lost 7 pounds in the first ten days and 35 pounds in total since then.

I am now at the weight I was as a skinny teenager, fifty years ago, having been a Weight Watchers regular since I was thirty five, it is a relief to have found the solution. Now I eat like a horse, not like someone to whom 2000 calories made another ounce of fat.

I eat bread made from organic spelt flour and baked products from rye flour. When I stopped having wheat products, I immediately lost my craving for biscuits, cakes and crusty bread. I feel fitter and more active than I have for years. The good thing is, I can still drink wheat beers!

[Ruth]

I do know several folks who say they are gluten intolerant. There is also lactose intolerance. Now there are peanut allergies. I suspect these are fads, but since I do not have any of these conditions, I understand I might have this wrong. None of this existed when I was a child, or indeed until rather recently. I guess someone forgot to tell the Chinese about the condition. ?? RAC

[Denise]

Ruth, I can assure you that it is not a fad. Just because doctors didn't know about it when you were a child doesn't make it a fantasy. Some people actually produce antibodies against gluten and those can be measured with blood tests. It makes it very difficult to have been sick and in pain for years, finally find out why, stop eating gluten and the sickness and pain is gone, and people think you are just making it up.

[Brian Johnson]

I think Dr. Weil makes a fantastic point here! It's not that gluten in and of itself is the problem but the way it is, or isn't in this case, processed. Most gluten and/or grains in the past were traditionally fermented to reduce phytic acid among other anti nutrients rendering them more digestible by the body. Now we consume grains highly processed and far from this fermented state which potentially causes gut inflammation and the symptoms associated with Celiacs or gluten intolerance.

Thanks for sharing!

[Peggy]

Ruth, these various allergies are not unconnected. If you look up "leaky gut syndrome" you will read that when something inflames the lining of the digestive tract (virus, food poisoning, genetic disease, etc), it becomes more permeable to letting food particles into the bloodstream that are not fully digested. The immune system views these as foreign invaders and new allergies develop. Lactose intolerance happens as a result of the villi of the small intestine being destroyed by inflammation and it is often the first symptom of celiac disease. The villi cannot produce lactase enzyme when they are damaged. When healing finally occurs, like with the GAPS diet, digestion is more thorough and the lining no longer lets those foods into the blood; the allergies sometimes quiet down and even go away. Celiacs can even then tolerate a little gluten.

[Cara]

I'm curious if Dr. Weil has noticed a trend among gluten-sensitive individuals and those who are taking allergy medication. Anecdotally I've noticed that they go hand in hand and I wondered about the mechanism of the allergy meds that might affect how the body reacts to gluten.

[Brian m]

I am 38 and uncovered my gluten intolerance when I was 23 by trying an elimination diet. At the time,mi was noticing a corellation between eating wheat products and my skin breaking out. Personally, I wonder if the few years of antibiotics I took as a teenager in order to deal with acne had an impact on my bodies ability to handle gluten. Perhaps the antibiotics weakened my immune system....