A significant part of my work at Custom Choice Cereal includes staying up to date on research around celiac disease and the gluten-free lifestyle. Just yesterday we wrote about why we think that those who have to eat gluten-free can benefit from the recent developments of the gluten-free “fad” diet.
The Wall Street Journal’s Health Journal columnist Melinda Beck wrote a great article on who has to stick to a gluten-free diet (celiacs, people with a wheat allergy, and those with a sensitivity to gluten). I was pretty impressed by the thoroughness of the research that was done and wanted to share it with you as part of our customer service. It particularly struck me that
- gluten can be found in lip gloss (but not in envelope adhesives)
- Melinda described many of the most common symptoms that ‘glutened’ celiacs experience
- it is not well understood how gluten can cause psychiatric and behavioral changes (keyword: leaky-gut)
- 7% of the population has anti-gliadin antibodies (‘AGA’), as do 18% of people with autism, and 20% of those with schizophrenia
The article also points out that much more research is needed to understand why the various conditions that benefit from a gluten-free diet are so much more prevalent today than several decades ago. While celiac disease was initially believed to begin only during childhood, it is now know that it can start at any time during the life of a person with the genetic predisposition.
In a little video, Melinda Beck also explains that the gluten-free diet is not a weight-loss diet, and that one should not embark lightly on a gluten-free diet.
