to ask why so many people are gluten free?

[waitingforsomething]

I am getting married in a few weeks and 7 of the 70 adult guests are gluten free. 10%. One of these is a coeliac the rest just don't eat it. Aibu to ask why gluten is so bad and why so many people are avoiding it? Is there evidence other than in coeliac disease that cutting it out is helpful in some way?
I don't mind from a catering point of view but I am curious as to where this is coming from.

I've said this so many times on here but, if this helps, this is my experience of going GF: I went gluten free from desperation. I have had fatigue problems, bowel regulation/movement issues, joint pain, bladder urgency issues and a foggy head for years.
I think I have had some form of fibromyalgia or CFS since my early teens but I saw 5 different doctors who said it was in my head or I was anaemic due to being veggie (never had iron levels checked) and my symptoms were all unrelated I never realised it could be related myself until I worked for somebody with fibro when I was 20, even then I never did tell the doctors what I thought I had as I knew they would send me straight back out for consulting Dr Google, not that it mattered anyway.

A friend suggested trying a gluten free diet. I didn't expect anything from it but desperation won out. Within weeks/months various symptoms alleviated. The bladder urgency issues were the first thing to lessen, I went from being unable to use public transport or go somewhere new and having panic attacks about not having access to a toilet, to being able to sit in a car for 2 hours without needing to stop when we usually would have stopped at least four times by that point.

The fogginess went almost entirely, bowels regulated and the fatigue became much much more manageable. The joint pain hasn't stopped, it's spread to my other joints but it's more manageable, less painful than I think it was 10 years ago despite being in quite a few of my joints.

I can and do rarely eat small amounts of gluten, now it messes mostly with the fogginess and bladder but occasionally I get the other issues. I don't have much if I do eat it. A small slice of baguette, a piece of baklava, things like that, it fills me up really quickly. I only ever really have it if I know I'll be in a "safe" place in the next few days, so at home or work and not much driving/travel in between. I had a bowl of pasta back in April and really regretted that the next day though.

I saw a doctor last year who did take me seriously and she thought that maybe I had undiagnosed gluten intolerance, but to test would mean eating gluten daily for 4-6 weeks and there is no way in hell I am doing that again. The fogginess is what makes me really ill and I can't face that again. The bladder urgency is not fun either, it ruled my life for 3 years and was an issue before that too.

My family think I am doing it to be difficult. There's nothing more fun than restricting your diet further (already a vegetarian!)

Mistigri
Of course some people are genuinely unable to eat gluten (ie those with coeliac disease and, rare, gluten allergy) but most self-diagnosed food intolerances have no physical basis.

as someone with severe food allergies and an allergic child, people who make their personal food preferences into a medical issue get my goat!

It sounds like you have trouble believing people might be intolerant to gluten. I'd expect somebody with experience of food allergies to have some knowledge/understanding of other conditions that involve reactions to foods.

I'm not diagnosed as celiac but when I eat wheat I feel awful. Really bloated and my poo turns to slop

Because otherwise I shit through the eye of a needle and have agonising . That and I REALLY enjoy paying £3 for shit bread that falls apart in the toaster.

No idea why other people do it though, mind.

Agonising bowel cramps, even. Agree that the 'gold-standard' test isn't worth it - eating gluten for 3 months would be unbearable. An official diagnosis just isn't worth it.

I don't give a flying fig why people are gluten free but there's a small subset of GFers who think gluten is the root of all evil. When I'm told I could come off my medication and be healthy if only I went gluten free, I want to shove a large (non-gluten free) baguette up their arses. Rant over!

www.sciencealert.com/scientists-who-found-evidence-for-gluten-sensitivity-have-now-shown-it-doesn-t-exist

Giving up gluten changed my life. My IBS disappeared. I would never go back to eating gluten. My sibling was diagnosed coeliac in their late 50s - I suspect I may be too but would have to eat gluten in order for the test to be effective - I don't have to have a diagnosis as it won't make a difference.

snufflet that's exactly what I thought when I read the op

I'm coeliac-dx about 5/6 years ago.

Have only recently got past the weeping in French supermarkets stage

If i could eat it, I would. But I am SOOOO grateful to the fadders. Their pickiness means I get a choice now-the range of gf food in lots of places is now ten times better than it was when I was first diagnosed

Bit late to respond but thanks for the explanation and link Betty

Lynda: that study was done over a short number of weeks. Great news that most people seemed better avoiding FODMAPS and I do think the fermenting gut is very interesting in terms of immunology, allergies and intolerences but the control used whey powder and arguably many people with intolerences to gluten also suffer from dairy intolerences as well. Both Dr Myhill and Dr Corthay link the two very closely. Now if the control was no sugar, no gluten, no yeast, no soy...

dam it.. Should have had dairy in that list!!

For my 2 year old dd, it because wheat gives her awful stomach cramps, explosive diahrea (sp?) and eczema.

Glad there is yeast in sourdough.

I was never diagnosed as coeliac as I refused to eat gluten before the blood test as is required because of the reaction I have to it. You would not want me eating gluten at your wedding. diarrhoea and stinky farts

My mum was diagnosed as coeliac 20+ years ago...

The increased awareness of gf whether as a lifestyle choice or medical requirement means she can now eat out without worrying that she'll regret it later. She has more choice at the supermarket too.

It's better for her now - she regularly goes out to cafe's with her friends and eats gf cake! A few years ago, she'd have had a cup of tea / (proper) coffee and nothing else.

We did go to a well-known department store for lunch around 4 years ago, and when I asked what was gf the hag lady behind the counter told us that they "didn't cater for fads" there... hmmmm.... I think my mum would fucking LOVE to eat a "normal" diet! We haven't been back, and if we'd have not been grieving at the time I'd have asked to see the manager, but my mum hates it when you make a fuss - she doesn't like to be centre of attention. So we just shuffled out and ate somewhere else.

When I was growing up I learned how to bake gf, as that was the only way my mum could enjoy cakes and biscuits etc. I used to make polenta cakes before they were everywhere... My dad was amazing at making gf pastry, and used to make quiche and Apple pies so mum could eat a delicious dinner. We'd all eat gf at home, with the exception of bread - we had two toasters.

The wholly negative side to gf products being more widely available is that mum's prescription allowance is much more restrictive than it was previously. I think they may even have stopped her getting anything on prescription now (don't quote me on this, I could be wrong). It doesn't affect her massively as she can afford to buy the more expensive gf products available, but a coeliac on a low income would find it very very difficult.

There's nothing like a bandwagon

well, I've gone from exposive loose bowels three times before I leave the house , extreme pain and bloating to relitive normality (not cured BTW).

I don't have dairy except minimal feta.
But IMO, the loss of wheat has helped the most.

It is not something I'd do without medical advice. It's expensive, limiting anf TBH, no fun at all.

So, ok, some people are bandwagonney.
Some, are not.

Fads. Bandwagons. Blah blah blah. Bollocks.

Gluten is strongly linked to autoimmune diseases. I gave up gluten on the advise of a private nutritionist. My autoimmune condition is now in remission.

I suppose I could have continued stuffing my face with gluten containing foods and kept on taking medication (doctors not interested in deviating from the big pharma path) and not get better. Would that have satisfied all these people that apparently find my dietry choices offensive!

My son is allergic to wheat and many many other things. So that's why he doesn't have bread etc

I avoid it but then I don't eat bread anyway and rarely touch pasta. It makes me feel bloated and bleurgh.

I have MS and will do anything to try to minimise disability so even a hint that eating clean would help sold it to me. A by product has been losing chronic knee pain, hayfever and three stone.

I don't make a fuss about it and don't expect others to cater for me, as i can't even eat "gluten free" processed foods.

I always frowned upon "faddy eaters" until my health started to fall to bits.

Because one of the benefits of being an adult is that you can choose what you eat. I was brought up to try a very wide variety of foods from many cultures, so have never been a fussy eater from a taste or sensibility standpoint. However, I now am very picky indeed because I know exactly what agrees with me, what gives me the best energy and what triggers my IBS.

Thanks for all your thoughts it makes an interesting read and I'm sorry to hear of so many illnesses and troubles with gluten.
I certainly don't feel put out by people requesting gluten free at my wedding and am happy to cater- it's not a big deal- I was just surprised at the number

I had skin prick tests for a chronic sinus problem and I came up as sensitive to wheat.
I cut it from my diet and although I substituted other gluten free carbs I dropped a stone and a half (I have now plateaued sadly still a couple of stone overweight - sugar is next!!)

I havent eaten gluten since June, but on the 3 occassions I thought sod it and did, I got absolutely crippling stomach cramps and spent the night on the toilet with acute diarrhoea

I dont really enjoy that much, so Im keeping gluten free from now on, even though it is a right pain

After a week in hospital with stomach issues, I was diagnosed with multiple stomach and bowel conditions. With the help of my gastroenterologist, I started elimination testing foods.

If I eat dairy, it has no impact on my guts but my skin is clearer.

If I cut out wheat and gluten, I can have normal poo without blood in it. the tests showed it wasn't coeliac. So whilst I'm definitely not
Coeliac, there's definite improvements to how I feel and the severity of my condition. If I decide in eating gluten, to stay pain and poo-blood free I need 5 separate medications a day. If I'm keeping gf, I take only 2.

I don't always keep to being gf (and the doc knows this), mainly due to long hours and ease of eating 'normally'. This makes me feel like shit, so I change my medication.

I don't do gf substitutes in general. Usually I do potatoes as my carbs and I limit bread. Birds eye potato waffles are my go-to easy food as they are gf. I hate gf bread and the pasta is a bit weird.