Why are so many people suddenly interested in a gluten-free diet?

It’s a fad.

It began with a selection of sports stars & as with a lot of things, gained popularity through association.

I have a friend who was diagnosed with celiac disease, so when on vacation together, we ate a gluten free diet together. My girlfriend at the time had suffered from migraines and other things for years, and had never found any real relief. After a few days on a GF diet she felt so much better.

Back from vacation, she returned to her regular diet, and her headaches returned; going GF she felt so much better.

There have been a lot of modifications to wheat DNA over the last thirty years,and my explanation is that many people are no longer capable of digesting wheat the way they used to be.

Gluten does not affect you unless you have celiac disease. It’s just a phase. The thing of the moment.

I feel it is a fad too except for the people with celiac desease.

It’s the fad disease of the month. These things come and go.

Yes, there is a real disease called celiac disease, and yes, people do suffer from it.

But the number of actual cases of celiac is about 2% of the number of people who claim to have it and are avoiding gluten because of it.

This too will pass, and some other imagined ailment will take its place.

@elbanditoroso could not be more correct! And we can blame insatiably profit-hungry marketers for capitalizing on it and making increasingly more consumers who don’t need gluten-free products nervous enough to buy them.

I know there are people with genuine gluten intolerance but marketers know how to jump on a fad when they see one.

Just check out all of the non-food foods (Frito Lays products and sugar-laden cereals like Fruity Pebbles) suddenly proudly sporting GLUTEN FREE! banners on their packaging as though that miraculously makes them healthy choices even though the ingredients haven’t changed at all.

If you’re really interested, read Wheat Belly.

There are plenty of “gluten-free” foods that are filled with unhealthy crap. That’s a fad. But I cut it out and feel better than ever (granted, I had GI issues that made me feel not so great beforehand). That’s not a fad.

Here’s another recent question on the topic (search Gluten for more related posts).

I had to post on this question because I just saw an ad for gluten-free dog food. It’s definitely a fad and reminds me of the Atkins obsession. And that also reminds me; I was going to make a seitan stir-fry…

The thing is, the blood tests for celiac can give a lot of false negatives; and a lot of people don’t want to go through having a biopsy. Going gluten-free is a harmless way for people to try to figure out what’s causing their symptoms. Having said that, though, yeah- it has become a fad.

A few months ago I started noticing that I was having problems everyday. I couldn’t figure out why I always felt like crap among other symptoms. A friend of mine who’s allergic to lots of things started asking me questions about aspects of my life and when I started answering yes to most of the questions she informed me to read up on celiacs disease. I had all the symptoms. I haven’t been tested because of the cost & because of the false negatives as @ccrow mentioned. In order to be diagnosed as having celiacs disease you need to have it in your diet regularly & even then it can slip by unnoticed. I don’t have health insurance or the money to be testing constantly so I cut out gluten. The symptoms stopped. I now know when I have ingested gluten, because the symptoms return. It’s not fun having to eat this way and I don’t know when it developed, but I do feel a whole lot better not eating gluten anymore. Especially not pooping my brains out 7+ times a day. I don’t miss that at all…

Many of the gluten free banners are not actually tested. The celiac disease association has an official logo. These products have been test and amounts of gluten have been certified under twenty parts per million.

However these foods don’t necessarily have any proclamation of health attached to them just by that claim alone.

One can be totally loyal to celiac free and still have a very unhealthy diet.

There are celiac intolerances and these people can have a varying degree of intolerance to the product.

There are many symptoms associated with being gluten intolerances a short list; brain fog, ecxema or psorias(sic), bloating, joint pain(up to RA), gastro intestinal including but not limited to: ibs, leaky gut syndrome, migraines, vitamin defiencies associated with mal absorbtion. And the list continues.

Gluten can be found in easily 90% of regular packaged food items and anything in that amount of excess seems unhealthy. So while it is a fad there seems valid reason to be aware of it and limit intake.

I am very thankful that it has become one. It has raised awareness. Opened up the niche and now there are more products available. There are more restaurants where it is safe to eat food. The numerous food centered social or work related and even family related gatherings are less awkward.

Traveling is less worrisome because there are places to eat. Though I still endeavor to get a hotel with a kitchenette just in case.

As to animals. Yes there are animals sensitive to gluten. It can be harder to pick up on. But it does happen. Thier quality of life can be improved the change.