Dear Mark: Gluten Sensitivity, Intolerance, Celiac Disease, and Grains

Dear Mark,

You talk a lot about the evils of grains. I follow your logic on why a grain free diet is best, and I have seen weight loss and just feel better overall since heeding your advice. But there is one thing (well, more than one) that I don’t understand but hear about often. Could you explain what gluten intolerance is and why you should avoid gluten?

Excellent question. Even though we’re seeing gluten-free labeling more and more, it’s not always clear why gluten can be problematic. Because of cross-contamination, it’s not always obvious whether a food contains gluten or not. Further, gluten intolerance symptoms can masquerade as other conditions. Let’s break it all down.

What is Gluten?

Gluten is a large, water-soluble protein that creates the elasticity in dough. It’s found in grains such as wheat, rye, barley, triticale, and oats. These days it’s also found in additives like thickeners and fillers used in everything from lunch meat to soup to candy. You can also find gluten in beers and vinegars that have been fermented from gluten-containing grains.

What Is Gluten Intolerance?

If your body reacts when you eat gluten-containing foods, there’s a chance you may have gluten intolerance.

Gluten Intolerance or Sensitivity Symptoms

When an affected person eats or drinks something containing gluten, the protein initiates a kind of allergic reaction in the body, resulting in some level of inflammation. The reaction can vary significantly from person to person. Symptoms include:

• Skin changes (rash, itching, scaling)
• Fatigue
• Joint pain
• Acid reflux
• Mood changes
• Abnormal menses
• Digestive discomfort

Some gluten sensitive people show no symptoms, at least for a certain period of their lives.

Gluten Intolerance vs. Celiac Disease

In serious cases, gluten intolerance causes intestinal atrophy known as Celiac disease. Celiac disease is hereditary, and it is estimated that 1 in 10 people with a first-degree relative (parent or sibling) who has celiac disease will also have the condition.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0016508515000293‘>² It’s considered a genetically influenced, life-long condition, with some relationship to autoimmunity. const lazyloadRunObserver = () => { const lazyloadBackgrounds = document.querySelectorAll( `.e-con.e-parent:not(.e-lazyloaded)` ); const lazyloadBackgroundObserver = new IntersectionObserver( ( entries ) => { entries.forEach( ( entry ) => { if ( entry.isIntersecting ) { let lazyloadBackground = entry.target; if( lazyloadBackground ) { lazyloadBackground.classList.add( 'e-lazyloaded' ); } lazyloadBackgroundObserver.unobserve( entry.target ); } }); }, { rootMargin: '200px 0px 200px 0px' } ); lazyloadBackgrounds.forEach( ( lazyloadBackground ) => { lazyloadBackgroundObserver.observe( lazyloadBackground ); } ); }; const events = [ 'DOMContentLoaded', 'elementor/lazyload/observe', ]; events.forEach( ( event ) => { document.addEventListener( event, lazyloadRunObserver ); } );