Why is everyone suddenly gluten sensitive and what caused it?

For some, gluten is an actual problem. Many autistic people have legitimate issues with gluten.

However, many people who avoid gluten do so for much the same reason vegans avoid dairy; no actual issues, just an excuse to cause a fuss at bakeries. And there are more than a few who go gluten-free to alleviate issues they don’t even have.

But food issues in general are becoming an issue for a variety of reasons. Look at the sudden boom in peanut allergies that makes some schools treat a kid with a PB&J sandwich like a terrorist with Anthrax.

The anti gluten movement is just an excuse to cause a fuss ? Seriously ? It seems like a serious issue to so many people now.

My daughter’s babysitter has a son who was experiencing serious stomach pains and they had him tested and found out he has Celiac Disease. In researching Celiac, I found out about the gluten free movement and I looked into some books on it. One was by Elizabeth Hasselback from the View. She talked about how she was experiencing all kinds of symptoms and then went gluten free and now is feeling a whole lot better. I have no personal need to go gluten free but it’s interesting, the articles and testimonies from people who are gluten free and how much better they say they feel. Also, in learning about Celiac Disease, I found that it’s no joke and can end up as cancer.

Homo Sapiens has only been eating grain products for a few tens of thousands of years. Speaking for the species, we don’t have a natural tolerance for it. Same with dairy. Now, granted, some of us have built up a tolerance in recent history to wheat and animal milks, but we certainly don’t all have that ability. Many African groups are still highly wheat intolerant, and some Asian peoples as well.

While many people might not be allergic to wheat or wheat products, they may feel better not consuming them, as their bodies will no longer be putting forth the extra effort in processing those materials. Just a thought, there

((my source for the first paragraph: The Ancestor’s Tale (specifically the chapter entitled “The Farmer’s Tale), by Richard Dawkins.))

Various sources dispute your premise.

No one seems to know how many people acutally suffer from the condition and how many are jumping on the bandwagon.

Glutens for punishment.

@Aster It varies on a case-by-case basis, but I actually have run into that type of person often enough that I no longer take for granted that a person who avoids gluten actually has a legitimate issue. Those that have legitimate issues don’t raise a big fuss when told there are no gluten-free options; they never get on a soapbox and complain in ways that tempt one to have them arrested for disturbing the peace.

I once asked a doctor why I became allergic to certain food type after eating this all my life?
His answer..that because I ate this all my life I developed a sensitivity to it now.
Somewhat like oversturating our bodies with one type of food.
He advised not to take this offending food type completely out of my meals but to instead take smaller quantities of it to regulate by system.

I liked this article in the NY Times which paraphrased Mayo Clinic studies in 2009 that found that Celiac Disease (and gluten intolerance) is 4X more prevalent than it was in the 1950s—and not just because doctors are testing for it more frequently.

Many people surmise that there is a new variable causing this massive increase in gluten intolerance and not surprisingly it coincides with great changes to wheat production – and genetic modification of wheat.

The hybridisation and genetic engineering of wheat has resulted in a 500X increase in the gluten content of modern day wheats compared to the wheat grown and produced prior to 1950. This massive increase of gluten content sure seems like a likely culprit for the steep increase in people who have become gluten sensitive or intolerant.

Not to be overly simplistic, but perhaps we humans just aren’t adapting to the higher gluten content at the same rate as the wheat is being radically genetically modified. If you’ve seen the new transgentic wheat it doesn’t even look like wheat used to look—it’s kind of shocking, really. I live in farming country so I really notice the difference. It’s stocky, short and doesn’t move in the breeze anymore.. No more amber waves of grain!

If you’re interested there are lots of websites out there where you can learn more about wheat production and transgenic wheat..like here.

Personally, I’m not gluten intolerant – but I did see firsthand how a gluten free diet radically improved my mother’s health.
My mother (now in her 60s) began suffering from debilitating cramping in her face, scalp and eventually her entire body about a decade ago. After extensive neurological testing over years and years it was diagnosed as Fibromyalgia and no medication could prevent the cramping of her muscles or ease her pain. It grew worse over time and was looking like it would force her into an early retirement – and was robbing her of all the things she liked to do like golf, play tennis and play with her grandkids.

After one of her doctors mentioned in passing that they were finding new links between gluten intolerance and Fibromyalgia it was suggested she might try a gluten free diet.
After over 7 years of increasingly debilitating symptoms (to the point where she could not operate a motor vehicle safely) and facing disability retirement – she tried going gluten free.
She had a miraculous reversal of ALL her symptoms. She was shocked and amazed that a diet change did what no surgery, pill or modern medicine could do to end her nearly constant cramping/muscle spasms and pain.
She remains entirely symptom free (no Fibromyalgia pain) to this day – as long as she is careful to maintain her gluten free diet. It takes a little extra effort and lots of label-reading but she’s thrilled to be finally pain free and able to walk, drive and get active again after years of pain and muscle cramping.

Unless you are some sort of victim of human achievement, you have no real status in the current culture of the afflicted.
Find something, quickly, that fucks you up and that you can blame on human progress.
Otherwise, you will be regarded as uncooperative.

I’m a glutton for Gluten! I can’t get enough of it. With everyone so sensitive of gluten there is more for me. Now I can have all of the delicious gluten that I want. Great stuff that gluten!

^^ Would you say your gregarious toward gluten?

^^ I’m joking about gluten.

@Seek_Kolinahr And how about preservatives? There are certain processed foods that cause me issues due to ingredientstthat, despite my extensive vocabulary, I can’t pronounce, and I know I’m not the only one who does better eating things that have no ingredients with more than 4 syllables. Yet people prefer to blame simple things that we’ve consumed for millennia than incomprehensible things that have only been around for decades.

I don’t think people just want to be a pain in the neck at bakeries. As far as no dairy or being a vegan, it can be for animal rights reasons, and it can be for cholesterol and health reasons, or it can be for lactose intolerance reasons. When it comes to gluten, if someone has celiac’s disease they indeed have a physiological problem digesting gluten. Other people seem to have a sensitivity. I also read that some people might actually be sensitive to pesticides used on the grain, I don’t know how true that is? If the pesticides are still there on very processed foods?

All I know is the Kellogg’s brothers and CW Post would think very differently. Kellogg’s prescribed grains as part of their patients convalescing (Post was a patient if you don’t know the story) and as Seven Day Adventists the Kellogg’s brothers were vegetarian. They lived into their 80’s or 90’s, I don’t remember which.

@jerv No argument there.

I’m just wondering where all these soapbox vegans and soapbox gluten-sensitives are. I’ve never seen them at bakeries or anywhere, in person, for that matter.
As others stated, gluten can be a huge health issue for some people. Just as dairy can be. Humans may have been consuming these foods for some time…but never in the excessive manner in which we do today. It is no wonder that many have issues with gluten these days.

@Plucky Maybe it’s just a Seattle thing.

I know that there are medical conditions involving wheat. Celiac is an autoimmune condition that often goes along with type 1 diabetes, in fact. I consider myself very lucky that I have not developed this.
But I’m very skeptical of fad diets in general. For people with more dollars than cents, there’s going to be expensive food products that allow a sense of superiority. And I’m inclined to agree with @josie that these diets can often be a way to make yourself a “victim” if you don’t have any real problems in your life.