Should You Go Gluten Free?

By Kristin Ohlson, July/August 2009

Whole grains are good for you. So why are so many Americans giving up wheat, rye and barley? Should you?

READER'S COMMENT:

"I have never been diagosed with celiac disease, but have been eating gluten free now for 2 weeks. My RA has 85% less pain and I have lost 8 lbs so far. My concern is can or will I develope celiac disease by eliminating all gluten. I...

Gluten Free Recipes
Healthy Gluten Free Breakfast Recipes
Healthy Gluten Free Lunch Recipes
Gluten Free Snacks
Healthy Gluten Free Dinner Recipes
Quick and Healthy Gluten Free Dinner Recipes
Gluten Free Desserts

But some doctors may miss the signs. That’s because even though celiac disease has been around for centuries—possibly since the domestication of wild grains 10,000 years ago—the medical establishment in the U.S. has lagged behind in its attention to the disease.

“The rate of celiac diagnosis depends on which country you live in,” says Peter Green, M.D., director of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University and author of Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic. “It’s commonly recognized in the Scandinavian countries, Holland, Italy, Australia and Canada. In the United Kingdom, people diagnosed with the disease get gluten-free products from the national health plan as a pharmaceutical benefit. In Australia, there are gluten-free products on most menus. In Brazil, everything in a package is marked gluten-free or not. But in the United States, there wasn’t much interest in the disease for a long time, probably related to the fact that there was no pharmaceutical-industry involvement.”

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