Is there anything to gluten free diet that helps your health?

Not unless you have a reactions to gluten.

@marinelife have done some reading on avoiding gluten to help arthritis. Also, gluten has been linked to other health issues. I’ve never tried a gluten free diet, but some people swear by it. Just wanted feedback from anyone that has tried this diet. I should have specified that in my quesiton. Sorry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluten_sensitivity

My niece has her autistic 5 year-old on a gluten-free diet due to anecdotal evidence.

Some people with Irritable Bowel Disease, Crohn’s Disease or Celiac Condition avoid gluten.

No double-blind studies available, but it’s worth trying for a while, observing and making an informed decision about your body. After all, you can always start to eat it again.

@gailcalled I’ve arthritis and read the food list to avoid and the list is very long and some of my favorite foods are on the list. Having said that, due to my arthritis becoming more painful by the day, would consider making that change if it would help.

@BoBo1946 I see more and more gluten free foods all the time, and have some acquaintances that swear by a gluten free diet. I came across a gluten substitute last weekend, marketed by a company called Orgran, for use in baking, and Namaste Foods makes a whole line of gluten free baking mixes if those were some items on your favorites list.
www.orgran.com
www.namastefoods.com

@Adirondackwannabe thank you. I’ve a friend that has had allergy problems all her life and she went gluten free and has no problems now. Hey, anything to help at this point in my life…bring it on…loll

@BoBo1946 For your arthritis, have you tried avoiding sugar?

really….. I’ve never been told that @marinelife ! As a rule, i do try to limit my sugar intake for weigh purposes, but will try harder. Thank you for that info.

@BoBo1946: Do you eat much processed food? If I personally were to experiment, I would eat only organic fruits and vegetables, beans and brown rice, complex grains, organic cheese and skim milk, tofu, and an occasional T of real ice cream.

Hold on. That’s how I do eat. That approach to food along with my regular geriatric exercise program and avoidance of most stress makes me feel pretty good, all things considered.

@BoBo1946 There is some increasing evidence that sugar is one of the culprits with arthritis.

@gailcalled hey, at this point, i would do anything to minimize the pain. I’m going to try that Gail. Just pulled some info on @marinelife‘s comment about sugar and found this.

In regard to arthritis, these are often viewed as possible offenders:

•caffeine
•dairy products
•nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, etc.)
•sugar
•additives and preservatives
•chocolate
•red meats
•salt

I’m guilty of all of these.

My uncle and his wife, as well as a few of their friends, are allergic to gluten and avoid it at all costs. They do a LOT of baking and cooking with gluten free foods. In addition, there are more and more restaurants now who are making a gluten free menu available (Outback and Unos, for instance).

I don’t have any reactions to whole grain stuff (as far as I can tell) but sometimes when I eat heavily processed gluten products I get really, really tired and achey, so I try to avoid it at all costs.

@marinelife Refined sugar, or just sugar in general?