Why is gluten sensitivity suddenly a thing?

It’s very important not to confuse “we’ve seen a huge rise in diagnoses of x” with “there’s been a huge rise in the prevalence of x”. The number of diagnoses we see of something can be driven by many factors, including better diagnostic tools, the definition and/or recognition of a new syndrome, and the invention of a new treatment method (which can encourage physicians—for both good and bad reasons—to give an actual diagnosis rather than just saying “there’s nothing we can do about this” and sending a patient on their way).

So the fact that we now have so many people being diagnosed with gluten sensitivity (or identifying as gluten sensitive, since we don’t know to what extent the website you are citing relies on self-reports) doesn’t necessarily implicate any sort of lifestyle or agricultural changes that have been happening contemporaneously with the increase in diagnoses. It could be just as big of a coincidence as the relationship between piracy and global warming.

I think it certainly could be due to the wheat being different from ever before, but also it wasn’t in the common thought-space of people or doctors before, so some people would have had it but not had a diagnosis for it.

People are faddish. Gluten-free is the current fad.

I’ve read that gluten sensitivity affects slightly less than 1% of adults, most of whom have celiac disease. Your statistic of 1-in-133 seems accurate.

As for the current fixation with gluten-free diets, that’s nothing more than a silly fad. Unless someone’s body reacts badly to gluten and makes the person sick, gluten is very nutritious.

I think serious gluten intolerance is also a different thing from mild food allergies or other negative reactions to various things. There may also be psychosomatic effects (which are real effects, by the way – people can call them a fad but if it causes someone to get ill when they eat something, it’s a real condition).

if it causes someone to get ill when they eat something, it’s a real condition

A mental condition.

Why don’t we hear about RLS any more?

Surfing the internet has resulted in my finding a lot of blame aimed, not at reengineering wheat, but the use of Roundup.
I don’t believe this is only a fad. Many intelligent people suffer from it.

@Call_Me_Jay Why would you characterize it as “a mental condition” when someone gets ill when they don’t know that gluten (usually in the firm of regular flour) has been unexpectedly added to a food?

For example, some diners add pancake mix to scrambled eggs to make the omelette fluffier. Some burger places dip their steak fries in flour (and maybe spices) before deep frying them to get a crispier texture.

My daughter has UC, and before she had the condition managed, she was extremely sensitive to gluten. Her GI explained that gluten has inflammatory properties. If you put lemon juice on your arm, it smells nice. If you put lemon juice on a cut or scrape on your arm, it’s very painful. Similar reactions if you introduce gluten into a compromised colon.

Why would you characterize it as “a mental condition” when someone gets ill when they don’t know that gluten (usually in the firm of regular flour) has been unexpectedly added to a food?

That is not a psychosomatic reaction, which is what I was referring to.

Ah, sorry, @Call_Me_Jay. I had read the previous post to yours too quickly, it didn’t quite register. My bad.

@Call_Me_Jay Impressive how you can accurately assess a whole group of imaginary patients’ conditions like that. ;-)

“not at reengineering wheat, but the use of Roundup”
I have wondered about the affects of this. Almost all the wheat, corn and soy we consume has been in contact with the stuff either directly or indirectly since “roundup ready” GMO crops have been introduced.

Impressive how you can accurately assess a whole group of imaginary patients’ conditions like that.

Psychosomatic reactions are not mental problems?

I’ve had to associate with too many people who have “learned” that gluten is poison. They are people who talk about feeling the toxins leave their bodies when they drink expensive “cleanses”, and they talk about enormous slugs of accumulated dung that we unenlightened folks carry in our intestines.

I’ve also known people with bona fide allergies and Celiac. The groups don’t overlap.

It is more likely that not that Monsanto and its evildoing play a part in it. Yes, it is a recent affliction just like about 100 other allergies. The villain is chemicals to which our government allows us to be exposed. Other Western countries do not allow their people to be exposed to all of the horrible chemicals that we have to live with. Europe even said no GMOs. “The Human Experiment.” It’s a documentary. Find it and watch it. Be sure it is the one narrated by Sean Penn.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYgb9gUbINk