Balanced mainstream article about gluten fad

[Zizzle]

An old colleague wrote this for Huffington Post. He's a celeb doctor now. I approve of his approach. It doesn't minimize the fact that some non-celiacs are sensitive, and it explains why there seems to be more gluten intolerance now (of all forms). The intro makes it seem like he's fighting the fad, but he balances that later.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kat ... 07027.html

[sarkin]

You're right, Z, that's a huge step ahead of the "only celiacs and crazy people are allowed to decline bread" vibe most such articles take, and he's much more open to real gluten sensitivity that's non-celiac, and on a large scale.

I just don't agree that anyone not celiac or GS who stops eating gluten is committing some kind of folly. There are plenty of people who will do just fine without it, whether they *must* avoid it or not. At least the only downside he lists is the inconvenience, instead of making dark noises about mysterious missing nutrients that wheat supplies (because there's nothing there that can't be gotten elsewhere, in better form). I like that he's open to people trying it without the help of a 'nutrition expert' (or doctor).

Thanks for sharing this,
Sara

[Zizzle]

Alas, my MIL is giving up on the GF diet because she had a breadstick and didn't react, because she's hungry all the time, and because she's still feeling tired and not losing weight. I told her to have her thyroid levels rechecked because her Hashimoto's may be to blame for her symptoms. Oh well, I had a feeling it wouldn't last. Back to the bloating and IBS!

[tex]

Virtually all doctors, (except for a very few), tend to make the same mistake - they all claim this:

The distinction between such conditions and celiac disease is that measurable antibodies to gluten are absent

That's wrong, wrong, wrong! Stool tests clearly show that the antibodies are there, in the intestines, and they can be found in stool samples, in every case. But of course, Dr. Katz is simply repeating research conclusions claimed by Dr. Fasano, (who continues to pretend to be totally oblivious of the fact that anti-gliadin antibodies can be reliably found in the stool of people with non-celiac gluten-sensitivity).

The potential adverse health effects of gluten in those sensitive to it have reverberated in cyberspace, creating the impression that gluten is a bona fide toxin, harmful to all. This is false; gluten is not "bad" for those tolerant of it, any more than peanuts are "bad" for people free of peanut allergy.

That claim is also incorrect. There is indeed evidence that gluten is "bad" for everyone, not just those "intolerant" of it.

CONCLUSIONS: Based on our results, we concluded that gliadin activates zonulin signaling irrespective of the genetic expression of autoimmunity, leading to increased intestinal permeability to macromolecules.

The red emphasis is mine, of course. That research conclusion proves that everyone reacts adversely to gluten, and that article is co-authored by another celebrity doctor whose work Dr. Katz endorsed above - none other than Dr. Fasano. Of course, you have to read the Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology, in order to find that "hidden" research article.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16635908

Other than those two glaring errors, I have to agree that it's a pretty well balanced, and unbiased article.

Tex