My wife was advised to try going gluten-free for a period of time to see if it would help with a condition she had been dealing with. It didn't help with that, but we did discover that she lost about 10 pounds and her previously regular bloating and intestinal discomfort went away. We have since observed a fairly strong correlation between consuming regular bread and bloating. So she largely eats gluten free foods.<p>But we don't go to overboard on gluten-replaced foods, and instead try more for food choices that just don't have gluten either way. Sure, we do have rice noodles or corn pasta sometimes, and I do have gluten-free bread in the freezer for her for occasional sandwiches, but we usually just eat more like East Asians or Mexicans and just don't have bread.<p>It's kind of like when I was ten, I noticed that sometimes I had bad diarrhea after we had spaghetti and so after running an experiment on myself, I deduced that a certain brands of sauce made me have diarrhea, along with raw tomatoes. I also discovered the same thing with soy sauce and peanuts, and although I no longer have that same sensitivity to soy sauce and lessened to peanuts, I still avoid those foods.<p>Basically, I think almost everyone has some sensitivity to some kind of food, most of us just don't know it. If you do have to avoid some kind of food, avoid it, don't go for a substitute.
Fun fact: if you look in an old copy of the Joy of Cooking, there are several references to wheat allergies (only found one in the index at a glance), including an old USDA publication on the subject (couldn't find that easily). This book has been around since 1931.
Most GF foods may trade the cealiac disease for something worse - diabetes. The starches they replace wheat with (like tapioca) have much higher glycemic index than wheat! If you can't have wheat, trying avoiding all refined carbs! As it's hard to stay completely away from gluten foods, my family is sparingly using Italian einkorn wheat (the ancient non-GMO wheat) products by Jovial [1].<p>[1] <a href="https://jovialfoods.com/einkorn/" rel="nofollow">https://jovialfoods.com/einkorn/</a>
the gluten argument, for me, is really a conversation about shitting'pooping'defecating'whatever-ing-you-need-to-talk-about-excrement-seriously<p>do some light research, find grain alternatives that are gluten free, eat that for a week and see if how your body expels its used resources is changed<p>it is interesting to me that the initial response to a 'fad' is aggressive denial stead some basic experimenting<p>there is a world of interest for those that are willing or wanting to dig deep in giving up mass produced bread products<p>i find with each limitation i place on my diet the more interesting my meals become because i am forced to think of alternatives to standard meals, similar to how artists will impose limitations to incite creativity<p>meals without bread products remain unaffected but if you love baking,
like the anecdotal couple at the end of the article, you baking can become even more interesting and involved using alt flours,
baking with alt flours is like chemistry with each one having different bake reactions and health benefits<p>also, there is beginning to be science to support the adverse effects one feels when ingesting gliadin class proteins, component to gluten, which increases intestinal permeability inhibiting nutrient absorbtion(i)<p>the reality is the food industry is out for money stead your health<p>if you change your mind on what your health requirements are the industry will follow and in due time we will have all the donuts and cookies anyone could want and they will be made with alt flours<p>(i) <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18485912" rel="nofollow">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18485912</a>
It's just another fad, like the Atkins Diet. That diet, for a few years, caused egg demand to skyrocket, forcing producers to change much like how this is currently causing change. But it will recede like all fads do.
In one word - nothing.<p>Growing up in the 80s in Eastern Europe culinary allergies and the likes were virtually unheard of. Or autism and ADHD.<p>Right now everyone has some kind of intolerance. I think for the majority it is reverse placebo effect. For the others - people spend so much time trying to be sterile and pop antibiotics like tic-tac that their immune system lacks any form of calibration and measurable response.