What is and why be gluten-free?Life as I knew it changed for me when I stopped eating foods containing gluten. That meant no more wheat, barley, spelt or rye. That also meant no more aches and pains. The constant grimace on my face softened to a smile. As my body gradually began to heal, I realized I had been poisoning my system at every meal.
Gluten is the stuff that holds stuff together. It’s what makes wheat flour sticky when wet and makes baked goods have the wonderful bite and chew we love so well. Unfortunately this same stuff, gluten, which makes some things taste so good has an alarming potential to wreak havoc on our digestive system. Which in turn can manifest in one's body as a variety of ills. The known list of such continues to grow. Whole grains are not wholesome for all. Despite the message that continues to be shouted from mountaintops, that eating whole grains makes one healthier, a growing number of people, like myself, have discovered the exact opposite. We have found that consumption of any of the glutinous grains (wheat, barley, rye, spelt, kamut and triticale) whole or not, and even little tiny bits are deadly to the many delicate systems that run our body. As more and more people wake up to this fact, and change their diets thus changing their lives, they are speaking out about the benefits of eating Gluten-Free. Eating “Gluten-Free” is not a fad, nor a life style choice. For the ones that understand the benefits because they have experienced it, it is a life choice, life long and life giving. The world seems to be built with gluten. As you begin to read food labels you will be amazed to find it everywhere. And not just in the obvious stuff like bread, pasta and cookies. Apparently food scientists found that the gluten in grains, particularly wheat, is an efficient and cheap binder for the masses of convenience foods produced. So if even if gluten doesn’t show up on a food label as wheat it is often there under the guise of modified food starch. Why haven’t I heard about this from my doctor? The medical community at large is slow to wake up and embrace this rather newly discovered connection between the ingestion of gluten and much of our health complaints. As well, medical research seems to be in one way or another funded by pharmaceutical companies whose sole purpose is the management of disease, not the dispensation of information which has the potential to eradicate their very need for existence. How can I know if eating gluten is what’s eating me? If your body is sensitive to gluten then each time gluten is consumed your body goes on the defensive. The inflammation which results from continued gluten assaults can manifest as an auto-immune disease, cancer, migraines or allergies to name a few of the growing diseases now connected to the ingestion of gluten. Thankfully, there has been a recent and very radical shift in the way gluten sensitivity is tested. Essentially these new laboratory tests look for the presence of certain antibodies, which if a body is sensitive to gluten, will have developed. These tests are clear and decisive. What one chooses then to do with this information is clearly a matter of individual choice. |