muffintop-less:

Reasons to Go Gluten-Free

By Danna Korn and Connie Sarros

A gluten-free diet isn’t just for those with celiac disease or a wheat allergy. Although eating wheat products, especially whole wheat, does offer some health benefits, the gluten can actually be harmful. Here are some reasons you may want to go gluten-free.

• Humans don’t fully digest wheat. The undigested portions of wheat begin to ferment, producing gas. Icky, belchable, fart-forming gas.

• Wheat is a pro-inflammatory agent. A pro-inflammatory agent is rapidly converted to sugar, causing a rise in the body’s insulin levels, causing a burst of inflammation at the cellular level, among other problems.

• Wheat can cause leaky gut syndrome. Leaky gut syndrome is a condition whereby stuff is leaking from your gut into your bloodstream — stuff that shouldn’t be there, such as toxins.

• Refined wheat has little nutritional value. Did you know that manufacturers actually have to enrich refined wheat because they’ve taken out all the nutrients? And even then, the wheat’s not that valuable, nutritionally speaking.

• Wheat is one of the top-eight allergens. Millions of people are allergic to wheat — so many, in fact, that it has made it onto the top-eight allergen list.

• Many people have gluten sensitivity or celiac disease, and don’t know it. So, how many people fall into this category? No one knows for sure. But 1 in 100 people has celiac disease — but most don’t know it. No one knows how many people have gluten sensitivity, but estimates are that it may be as high as 50 percent, or even 70 percent, of the population.

  My mom had a variety of ailments which did not at ALL seem to relate to food… from panic attacks which inhibited her form leaving the house, to TERRIBLE bloating and stomach pains. We never could figure out what the problem was. She tried everything in the book, from therapies, to herbal remedies to medications to alternative therapies. NOTHING worked. Then one day a makeup artist that was working on a shoot with us mentioned she had developed an intolerance to gluten… her symptoms sounded a LOT like those my mom had gone through.. But once she stopped eating the stuff, her symptoms went away. It has taken my mom several years, but after going off of wheat and gluten, she is now almost 100% back to normal. 
  No matter WHAT symptoms you have, it could VERY likely be related to your diet. Think about it… we EAT every single day and the things we eat determine how we feel and how well our body functions. You may not even realize you have developed an allergy or intolerance to a specific food, but it may be the cause for your symptoms. 
  If you think you may have a wheat or gluten allergy, let your physician know… they can test you for it.