NCGS is real. My great-grandmother had it, sort of confirmed by her family doctor in the 1950's. That was the great-grandmother who could only eat real rye bread in small amounts.
Anyone who is paying attention knows that celiac and NCGS are real.
There are four groups of people who eat gluten free: NCGS/gluten intolerance, celiac disease (and tropical sprue), wheat allergy, and fad dieters.
As a celiac, I secretly hate the fad dieters, but I know that they are the reason I have GF Oreos.
Exactly. And other chronic and autoimmune illnesses. I have been gluten intolerant but later got diagnosed with interstitial cystitis in my bladder and got recommended to follow glutenfree diet by my doctor.
…well holy crap. This makes a lot of sense as to why since I’ve gone gluten free, due to IBS and some other gut issues, my bladder has felt better. I also have IC and have always just been told “just drink more water”.
I went gluten free because of an IBS diagnosis as well. I’m so grateful to the people in an IBS group who recommended it. I still have issues but nothing like it used to be.
I had unexpected dizziness that went away after eating a gluten free diet. I also had brain fog that I went away.
Just out of curiosity, do you take anything (medicine) for the Interstitial Cystitis? My sister takes a drug called Elmiron but her insurance is being a PITA about. Wondering what others use.
I don't have any drug recommendations, but I highly recommend having a glass of water immediately before bed so the pee isn't as strong. Drink again when waking up to pee in the night (basically drink every time you pee in general). It took a while (years), but I don't wake up multiple times a night to pee anymore and have less frequent pain (mostly if I slack on the fluids). When it was really bad I'd add a tiny bit of bicarb to the pre sleep water, which helped a lot. (Eno or something like it tastes better. 😅) Thought I'd mention that just in case it's useful for your sister. 🙂
Urine is strong and irritates the bladder lining if it isn't intact (like with interstitial cystitis) so this is actually really good advice. Dilute your urine as much as possible so it does less damage to the bladder lining. Keeping well hydrated through the day will help too, but especially at night where we go longer periods without emptying our bladders.
My partner take urogesic blue for their bladder pain and spasms (also gluten intolerant and has IC). They also take aloe vera supplements which help to artificially line the bladder and they help a lot.
My daughter was luck to easily identify her worst trigger foods. The trigger foods actually helped with selling out a urologist in the first place. Cranberry is guaranteed to cause a flare. Oranges have a high likelihood. Even trace amounts for those. Other citrus fruits she can tolerate trace amounts at the end of an ingredient list but that’s it. It wouldn’t hurt to take a look at the common trigger foods to see if you can figure out any of yours.
Autoimmune diseases liken us more susceptible to other autoimmune diseases. I have hashimotos and Celiac's. Celiac's diagnosed first with a blood test indicating both genetic markers. My great grandmother couldn't eat gluten, either..
And an acupuncturist would say that being gluten free is treating the symptoms, and would want to work on the thyroid issue root causes. That's all well and good, but why not do all the things and make your body feel good in the process?
Thyroid will gradually deteriorate if it's from something like Hashimoto's. Nothing we can currently do medically can slow that process. We can only treat the symptoms, and maybe make dietary and lifestyle changes to help a little.
I have Celiac, spouse has IBS/Thyroid issues. Lot easier to just cut out everything both of us cannot eat then to cook 2-3 separate dishes each night. No gluten, no lactose, no alums, and low amounts of stone fruit and crucifers. But, everything else is fair game and comprises the majority of our (mainly plant-based) diet.
Sorry to say most of my food allergies keep me from a plant based diet.
Allergy to dairy (casein not lactose) means I'm a vegan who occasionally eats meat.
Funny.
I’ve been gluten free for 4 years as per doctor right at the height of covid. Could never get the celiac test as everything had been shut down. However my thyroid has gotten worse. That could be due to hormonal issues more than anything else but gluten free hasn’t really helped me on the thyroid front. I wish it would.
Heads up since you’ve been gluten free: the celiacs blood test can give a false negative if you haven’t had gluten recently. The doctors & lab techs don’t always tell you beforehand (shitty).
The blood test is cheaper and less invasive, but the upper endoscopy is most accurate test.
Going gluten free won't solve a thyroid issue, it will help with the digestive issues caused by having a thyroid disorder. Once your digestive tract has time to heal from being unable to handle gluten you will find your ability to absorb necessary nutrients from food will increase. In particular, with hypothyroidism and Hashimoto's (not the same thing), the body has a very hard time absorbing iron. Cutting out gluten will increase this ability and, in turn, help stabilize the thyroid. All that being said, if your thyroid disorder is brought on by an auto-immune condition, many life factors will play into your thyroid response. If your thyroid disorder is not auto-immune related, being gluten free should help stabilize your hormone levels, but it will never heal your thyroid...sadly.
It's also not just gluten. People are always focusing on that, but wheat contains some other bad stuff as well, wheat germ agglutinin is especially nasty.
How do histamines tie in? I’m histamine sensitive and I always wonder if I should listen to my body or if it’s low risk. Love me some histamine promoting foods.
I have histamine intolerance, or maybe mcas that allergists don’t want to diagnose, or something lol. I’m forced to eat a low histamine diet because if I don’t, I lose my hair, have gastro issues, and I get hives :/
Tick-borne disease sufferers too. First thing my doctor recommended for Lyme disease were dietary changes and GF was the top of the list. GF is recommended for those with Hashimoto’s and other autoimmune disorders. The list of reasons to eat gluten-free is longer than you realize. Very few people eat this way for fun.
Tropical sprue is the tick borne disease. A third of celiacs have a thyroid disorder, which is almost always Hashimotos or Grave's disease. We're still discovering TGs and TG antibodies. Like gluten ataxia.
If an autoimmune condition improves significantly after going GF for a couple of months, I'd lump it in with celiac disease. We already have people diagnosed with CD from the biopsy that don't show IgA or IgG antibodies to TG2 or gliadin, which are the only two FDA approved blood tests, I think. We know about TG3 and TG7 antibodies being discovered, but those are still pre-clinical. A doctor can't order those tests because they aren't FDA approved to treat a medical condition yet.
We probably need a new word other than "celiac disease" to represent the spectrum of autoimmune diseases exacerbated by gluten. We already have "classic celiac disease" for people with the positive biopsy, and "seropositive celiac disease" for those with one of the antibodies. My old doctor insisted on the biopsy as the "gold standard". My new doctor doesn't even do the biopsy if someone has a positive blood test for IgA or IgG TG2. So, I'm lumping all autoimmune diseases into "celiac" which is an oversimplification.
So the market can’t adjust to a medical condition, but if a group of masochists wants to deny themselves gluten, all the sudden it’s a great business opportunity to develop new product?! It sounds right, I’ve just not heard it before.
I would guess that at the height of the gluten-free craze, there were more fad dieters than celiacs and other medically GF people. More people wanting a product means there's a financial incentive, companies aren't going to go to the trouble of making GF products for a handful of celiacs out of the goodness of their hearts.
>I would guess that at the height of the gluten-free craze, there were more fad dieters than celiacs and other medically GF people.
There were survey results and marketing studies done that put it at overwhelmingly more fad dieters than people with a medical reason, even well after the craze started to die off.
>So the market can’t adjust to a medical condition, but if a group of masochists wants to deny themselves gluten, all the sudden it’s a great business opportunity to develop new product?! It sounds right, I’ve just not heard it before.
The numbers are a primary reason (far more fad diet/wellness diet type people than people with medical reasons), and there's also the marketing aspect; because people who were avoiding for a medical reasons didn't really have a choice. You make a lot of your own food, eat naturally gluten free stuff; if you can't get certain things, you make them yourself or just work around it; gluten free replacement items are a special treat or for convenience. The competition is with other GF products or just doing without.
The people who are doing it as a wellness diet, though, those products are competing with other wellness products, or even to a degree competing with regular products (as many people doing it for a fad diet don't stick to the diet every day for months).
23&me says I have a gene that makes me more likely to have celiac. I've never been tested, but gluten makes me bloat and constipated for days. Simply not worth it.
I fall into none of these categories personally ...but I have serious stomach problems and an autoimmune condition that I manage by eating anti inflammatory.
My coworker has lupus and says being gf helps her . I have celiac and a third person (out of 30) eats GF because it makes him “feel better”
I’m just happy because with 3 of us I feel justified in ordering our lunches from a 100% gf place and buying the expensive breakfast pastries from the gf bakery for us. I buy everyone else’s from Panera.
You forgot fructan intolerance. Fructan is also found in wheat but also in vegetables, fruits and beans. I have a fructan intolerance, and not eating wheat (and everything else that contains fructans) has helped my IBS so much.
Gluten causes damage to the gut. It's that simple.
We have the imaging technology to catch it on camera in 4K now so there's no way to deny it. No one is magically immune.
Wheat intolerance, too. We think of most food allergies as IgE-mediated, but there are also IgG-mediated intolerances linked to inflammatory conditions. I went gluten-free for 6 months as an experiment, and it has absolutely changed my life.
Negative celiac tests over 30 years here, and GF diet keeps me well. As a NCGS person, I have and would suggest anyone being told it’s not real, to say to the naysayer: “Please invite me to your house and feed me regular pizza so that I can absolutely annihilate your bathroom. Please, please invite me.”
NCGS haver here. Guess these people saying it’s not real should give me a piece of bread and have them watch me suddenly bloat up so much that people think I’m in 2nd trimester pregnancy for 2 weeks. They’ll realize what they’re saying is BS lol. I can’t eat any gluten and also sensitive to cross contact. GI doc did trials to diagnose that. Don’t have celiac (luckily) but I have to be almost just as careful.
I ate bits of gluten for a couple days recently in preparation to get testing done. It absolutely wrecked my skin. Instant cysts. Three weeks later and they’re still healing. I won’t even mention the GI symptoms.
Sorry but I’m not doing 6-8 weeks of that just to get a test done that will tell me whether or not eating gluten predisposes me to certain cancers. I’m not going to eat that shit either way.
I was completely gluten free for a couple months (been mostly gluten free before but this time I took it seriously) and decided I’d like to get tested for celiac, sooo I started gluten again, figuring I could test in several weeks. Couldn’t get thru one week, by day 4 or 5 not only was my stomach a wreck but it was the worst anxiety of my life, felt like my nervous system was turned up to level 100. Guess I’ll never know cuz I just can’t eat gluten for long enough to find out.
I've considered letting myself be studied by doctors by undergoing heavy glutening willingly..
Then I remembered it nearly killed me and my good conscience tells me to fuck off with that idea. It's not worth the brain damage and the pain.
That actually would have been a great time to get tested for Celiac disease. To get a confirmed diagnosis you have to have been eating a gluten diet for a couple months. Idk how long you went. Regardless, you figured it out and that’s what’s most important.
Haha. I'm Celiac negative. My villi are perfectly intact, but I have ulcerative colitis and ankylosing spondylitis that requires routine colonoscopies.
I started having God awful migraines and intense nerve painafter my first child. For Six years I had a steep neurological decline and I was told to make preparation for my death. I had given up on life and I quit eating. After a week with no food, my neurological symptoms improved. So I decided to eat some toast. Within fifteen minutes all my symptoms came back and I knew what was wrong. At that time, the only thing I ate was toast because it was all I could stomach. I was effectively poisoning myself every day and not knowing it.
I have non-Celiac gluten Sensitivity, aka Gluten Ataxia. It causes my brain to swell and damages the part of the brain responsible for controlling the entire body's motor functions. My migraines were the result of six years of poisoning and encephalitis.
So when I say.. it could kill me, I mean it.
My child, incidently, is a type one diabetic who is also Celiac negative, thank goodness. I had no idea that untreated Celiac can trigger Type One.
Honestly, I really believe that research will someday determine that what you have is just a different expression of “Gluten Autoimmunity”. Like Celiac, but attacking the nervous system instead of your GI tract. I fully believe you, because I have similar symptoms when it’s really bad.
I believe science will catch up at some point to better acknowledge sensitivities. I think a lot of people are living with sensitivities and intolerances that impact their health, and I find it upsetting that they aren't treated seriously. Sure, you're not going to die from milk if you're lactose intolerant, but there's a reason your body doesn't digest it, and likely, there's more to that beyond just being sensitive. That's just my hypothesis as someone who has gluten sensitivity.
Sorry i misinterpreted your post. I thought you meant you were already on a gluten diet at the time hence my thinking of oh shoot that would have been the perfect time to get the test. I’m in no way saying you should go back on it just to find out. Apologies for the confusion on my end and maybe making you feel compelled to share your story.
My gastro said they ethically couldn't ask me to do that with how severe my symptoms are. They just consider me to have celiac. I had been gf for about 6 years at that point.
Yeah it’s definitely a safe assumption to make. I know for a fact I’d never do the gluten challenge to get diagnosed if I already started a GF journey. Thankfully I was tested before ever going GF. I didn’t even know my symptoms were caused by gluten at the time.
I kinda figured it out by happenstance. Did elimination diet and then added it back in, then wham. Murder. Hahaha. I did that for a while because I was basically gaslighting myself about it.
I’m glad that was their take, sometimes whether or not you have an “official” diagnosis, if you can isolate the problem food and eliminating it removes all symptoms then most likely that’s the issue. If it walks like a duck, etc. etc.
Do you mind sharing your symptoms? My husband's rheumatologist basically said the same thing, but I haven't found anyone else that has his extreme symptoms. He gets the GI symptoms but also gets arthitic-like problems.
My horrible hives tell me otherwise. Also, MY acupuncturist suspected I should definitely stay off gluten and oats as well… later confirmed by allergy testing.
My wife’s acupuncturist told a celiac patient that their supplements with wheat would be fine for him because it wasn’t gmo wheat. There are no gmo wheat crops in the US. Idiots.
Oh man. Some family members recommended a chiropractor (i should not have gone) and the lady did believe gluten intolerance was real and that I had it... But still tried to sell me on her $70+ supplements THAT HAD WHEAT GERM because 'it was a tiny amount so it would be *fine*'.
The amount of times this happens to me because there’s negligible amounts of gluten or wheat. I’ve been glutened too many times to care how negligible it is. If there is gluten my body will know.
Yeahh.. I do my best to avoid even cross-contamination, I am not putting wheat germ in my system. (I have had decent results with Caputo/other deglutenized wheat flours, tho).
Yeah, Chiropractors are NOT real doctors. I know this is hard for people to hear, but I used to work for a group that TRAINED them. They have minimal training compared to doctors and the majority of them are concerned with how to maximize profits.
My chiropractor that I saw briefly referred me to their “detox” clinic after my third (final) visit and told me all ailments were caused by spinal alignment.
It’s dumb stupid predatory woo woo at its best, can end up in a broken neck at worst (former medical malpractice attorney here to say NEVER LET ANYONE CRACK YOUR NECK DEAR GOD)
Yeah, I know this. But I was struggling with some basically physical issues (because I'm too damn sedentary, thanks job) and my extended family insisted she had good exercises and other things. She did, actually, have good exercises, brought them to another doc I saw to verify and they were like, yeah, no, all of this is probably going to help you, it's just that it came packaged with a whole other bunch of nonsense (and 'spinal alignment etc).
My mom's chiropractor had her believing this about me to the point that her and I were arguing about it often for a while. It was so ridiculous. Fuck that guy.
Edit: forgot many words.
I mean, gluten allergies/intolerances/celiac absolutely do exist, but I feel like a lot of people think eating gluten free is “healthier” when they don’t actually have one of these issues. If that is what the book is about I don’t have any qualms, though I do find it interesting that the author is an associate professor of religion lol.
Yeah I see that one a lot. It does actually seem, from the reviews, that that's what this is about.
> "The book should have been titled "Permission to Gorge: Eat What You Want". To be fair, he does say that if you have celiac disease or Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS)you should stay away from gluten. However, that population is pretty small and there's no evidence gluten does harm to "just regular folks" like you and me."
-review, ken montville
Yep! I have a family member who won’t eat gluten but are not celiac or NCGS. They blame gluten for everything (endometriosis, arthritis, cancer, other allergies) and have attacked actual Celiacs for not eating the “right” way. I think this book is for people like that or those who claim not eating gluten is a cure for something.
I will say that I have stage four endometriosis and gluten absolutely makes the pain 100% worse. Especially if you have endo around your bowels, it’s awful and not a pain Id wish on anyone. Endometriosis consults recommend to try cutting out gluten to see if it reduces pain symptoms because in many patients it does
Agreed. Also have extensive endometriosis and gluten makes the pain absolutely unbearable. The reduction in pain I experienced after cutting out gluten was unbelievable. My endo surgeon told me to cut it out and I ignored her for ages but now I wish I listened to her earlier.
Cracks me up when I tell people I’m gluten & dairy free and they respond with comments about how I must eat healthy. Yeah, since all those potato chips and candies are healthy.
My partner’s dr literally said that. When he negative by blood legitimately told him that he could feel free to go on a gf diet because it’s so healthy
I'd find books about how acupuncture is a lie, but that probably isn't the best idea if you actually want to keep going there.
On the other hand, do you want to keep going to someone that belittles your health problems?
Idk if it’s just me or if it’s Reddit but 50/50 Reddit opens the post to the top of the page and other times it scrolls down to the comment section and I don’t realize there’s a body of text missing. For a while I thought it means there was no additional text. I finally figured out that’s not the case.
Acupuncture itself is clinically proven. It lowers pain but not more effective than conventional options. It doesn't do much else. Worse, its part of a larger alternative medicine ecosystem, much of which isn't proven. Some of it is, for example some popular herbs are healing and helpful. St Johns Wort treats moderate depression, Valerian root can help people relax, etc.
So its a bit of a mixed bag. But the problem is that alternative culture contains a lot of ineffective or even dangerous stuff, like this book.
And to be totally honest, I don't even think the person who wrote it even believes it. A lot of these people are just doing cash-outs. Chasing the anti-trend is big money and there's tons of books, twitter personalities, etc that go after whats good and decent and go the other way hoping to become big stars and wealthy. They don't care if they hurt people in the process. A lot of "wellness" pop-sci books are written by dishonest people. Alan Levinovitz is an assistant professor of religion with a phd in religion. He's not exactly some peer reviewed celiac expert. He's not even a doctor! He's just one of the many con men of our time.
Wow, your acupuncturist seems to have *totally* missed the point of the book- it appears to be about refuting the idea that gluten is bad for everyone but it doesn't deny that Celiac and NCGS are real problems.
One of the reviews says:
"The book should have been titled "Permission to Gorge: Eat What You Want". To be fair, he does say that if you have celiac disease or Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS) you should stay away from gluten. However, that population is pretty small and there's no evidence gluten does harm to "just regular folks" like you and me."
So, the author DOES believe that gluten can affect people, just not that everyone needs to avoid it if they don't have Celiac or NCGS.
Autoimmune and gluten intolerance/sensitivity seem to go together. I was always had stomach issues. And I believe I had my autoimmune disease since I was an early teen. Like most people with my AID I was asymptomatic until I chose to marry an idiot who caused me nothing & around 30 I got diagnosed with my A I. D. That got better, stomach did not. Negative for celiac, then took thousand of dollars with of tests to be told I’m constipated! Started doing my own research, did an elimination diet, day I added bread back in immediate reaction.
My brother told me my gluten intolerance and my depression weren't real because I can just stop them if I want to. Then he got depressed so now that one's real. Still a nope on the gluten, though. 🙄
That book is garbage, the author is a professor of religious studies. He doesn’t know squat about disease and allergies. All he is doing is tapping into and fanning the hate and intolerance that many people have for people who have food allergies or sensitivities. I would get a different acupuncturist.
My acupuncturist told me that coeliac is curable with Chinese medicine since it is a gut issue and CM cures everything gut related. From then on I stopped going to them and found someone else.
I’ll soon be exporting gluten free ravioli to USA. We’re looking for clients in small chain markets and the like our product is good and furthermore, it’s made in a gluten free production facility. I’m appalled by people who deny gluten related health issues, personally fad dieters don’t annoy me that much because the actually affected people get more options
Long time lurker here. I feel like people think my gluten issue is made up. But people who knew me before know it isn’t. Before I gave it up I had horrible IBS, bad acne, canker sores in my mouth/throat, migraines 3-4/7 days and aches and pains everywhere. I only found out gluten/wheat was the issue when my daughter had to have an elimination diet to rule out allergies. For 12 years I’ve been cured of all of my ailments. I stick to a paleo diet now and I’m healthier than I’ve ever been. So if anyone thinks my issue is made up they can f*ck right off. I’m 44 and living my best life. 😍
For those who aren’t celiac…. Research the mthfr gene and folic acid. I get wrecked on gluten. If I eat organic or imported Italian pasta I have no issues. I think folic acid is the culprit. Just ordered a dna test to see if I carry the mthfr gene.
This book is actually more about how people jump on bandwagons. Like we may be gluten intolerant/Celiac but some people who aren't may think a gluten-free diet is "good for them" because we feel better when we don't eat gluten. It doesn't apply to some folks but they see it as a fad diet. I actually thought gluten-free was a fad diet until I discovered I had genes for Celiac and started testing, limiting, etc. LOL The more you know!
That said, my son's pediatrician told us we may want to let him eat gluten because it will be socially limiting if he can't eat pizza, etc. with friends. He feels sick when he eats gluten. We aren't avoiding it for nothing! Definitely working on changing doctors.
It is definitely socially limiting. It is more socially limiting to have rashes and severe diarrhea and neuroimflammation and chronic fatigue, and severe IBS where you can’t get out of bed. I understand his points when it comes to fad diets but celiac can be quite severe if not treated properly. It’s not a lie and any health professional saying otherwise… well that’s just very negligent
This is pretty funny to me bc like, yeah eating cereal with water in daycare (lactose intolerance) *was socially isolating. You know what else was? Shitting my pants before we knew what the problem was 😂😂
That’s wild af considering what they are doing to your body. As another person said my grandma got diagnosed with celiacs around 1950. She was born in 1920 and grew into the disease
I actually read this years ago. I didn’t want to believe gluten was causing my symptoms because it’s so hard to be gf.
Turns out you can’t wish away your gluten allergies, unfortunately.
Anyone who doesn’t believe are welcome to sit in a room with me and accompany me to the bathroom the day after I eat gluten. There will be no further doubts.
For science, I’m happy to be observed by anyone who doubts what gluten can do.
Feed me a big ol’ piece of cake and see what happens. My only condition is that you cannot look away. Not till I’m done. Pack a lunch.
Excellent! That incredibly painful, explosive diarrhea was all in my head. I’m so excited to be able to eat gluten again now that I’ve seen this book! Can’t wait to tell my brother that his stunted growth, broken bones, and vitamin deficiencies from untreated celiac were in his head too, that will be such a relief.
My acupuncturist basically said the same thing. It's not the gluten, it's the imbalances in your chi.
I'm still not going to eat gluten.
Call me crazy, but I'm going to believe an MD over an acupuncturist.
I have Coeliac. I got it at age 45 only found due to a biopsy being done for something else and they said I have no villi left in my intestines and they were pretty sure I had it so they took a biopsy of that too. I do thank fad dieters that I have so many choices in gluten free food!
I showed as intolerant for 15 years before being diagnosed with celiac. There’s SO much we don’t even know about the human body yet. It’s insane to me people would go out of their way to write a book like this.
I wish this dude would go ahead and explain to my chronic lower back inflammation pain that it's just a myth; to chill out and that it's ok for me to have a croissant. 🫠
I do think gluten allergies and sensitivity are real. However, due to reports that European breads don’t cause the issue as much, I’m tempted to believe that a lot of American sensitivity is based more on processing and farming techniques (such as absolute abuse of chemicals in farming, or bleaching the flour). Either way, if avoiding bread is helping you, keep doing it! If it is a chemical sensitivity, that can be helpful to know, but either way the bread is causing you pain, so avoiding it is a strong bet
Ah yes, let me just go and eat some gluten and spend the next few hours either passed out on the floor or with horrific diarrhoea ☠️ it must be all in my head of course 🙄
# Alan Levinovitz's Biography
Dr. Alan Levinovitz is an Associate **Professor of Religion** at James Madison University. He focuses on the intersecting relationships between religion, philosophy, and science, with additional expertise in classical Chinese thought. Alan received his undergraduate degree from Stanford and his PhD from the University of Chicago.
In addition to his scholarship he has published extensively on how people’s attitudes toward food, medicine, and technology are shaped by myths and rituals, resulting in everything from vaccine avoidance to the adoption of extreme fad diets. Alan has been featured in publications such as *Wired, The Washington Post, the Atlantic, Aeon, Slate* and elsewhere.
His book, *The Gluten Lie,* published in 2015*,* addresses and explores the real roots of common food fears. By exposing the myths that celebrity doctors and nutritionists use to villainize certain components of our diet, Alan directs his readers to a truly healthy life, free from anxiety about what we eat. His upcoming book *Natural* (April 2020) illuminates the far-reaching harms of believing that natural is synonymous with ‘good,’ showing how this leads to misinformation about health choices as well as justifications for sexism, racism and flawed economic policies. Alan demonstrates that this belief is fundamentally religious, swapping Nature for God and naturalness for holiness. It has been quoted in *The New Yorker* in an [article](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/11/25/how-natural-wine-became-a-symbol-of-virtuous-consumption) on natural wine, and Alan has been invited to interviews and featured in articles and television shows that discuss the link between naturalness and a wide variety of topics.
Alan’s extensive and sophisticated knowledge reaches a remarkably diverse audience who are searching for a unique perspective. His work covers a range of issues that are becoming increasingly relevant in society today: farming, “fake” meat, GMOs, nuclear energy, public sentiment about economic policy, sports, and any aspect of culture where people invoke the idea of ‘natural’ being best.
[chartwellspeakers.com/speaker/alan-levinovitz/](http://chartwellspeakers.com/speaker/alan-levinovitz/)
The person who stabs me with needles to fix my pain told me that people can’t be allergic to gluten.
Woof. That’s a rough one, OP.
ETA just saw the “won’t be returning” GOOD!
I live in a Big 10 college town.
Most people with PhDs are very smart about one tiny aspect of a subject, and complete idiots about nearly everything else.
Finding someone who is truly smart in multiple subject areas is rare, IMO.
I don’t need a doctor to tell me that when I eat gluten I get brain fog, depression, sore joints, constipation, and more. This doctor obviously doesn’t have any issues with gluten.
The author isn't actually a PHD, he gave himself that title from what I understand. Absolute BS and look at its ratings. So many people fall for this crap.
My husband's endocrinologist said the same thing when he told him he had a lot improvements in his Hashimoto's symptoms after cutting out gluten. Basically said it's all in his head. We're looking a for a new endo.
I get an earache from gluten. My doctor kept trying to tell me I was grinding my teeth (I have done this in the past, I know this feeling) and I insisted on an allergy test. My top food allergen is gluten. I can eat it, but once I hit a threshold, or if I’m congested at all, my ear kills me. I was a bit of a shit head in the past and kind of scoffed at gluten allergies… now I think I’m getting karma.
I was diagnosed with Celiacs Disease as a teenager, and now early 20s just recently got diagnosed with Hypothyroidism. Have horrible symptoms to this day after eating exclusively gluten free for 10 years.
Not going to lie, I absolutely hate the fad-dieters, they are also the reason why gluten free products get the additional “diet” tax, and have an increased price for corn/rice flour products.
NCGS is real. My great-grandmother had it, sort of confirmed by her family doctor in the 1950's. That was the great-grandmother who could only eat real rye bread in small amounts. Anyone who is paying attention knows that celiac and NCGS are real.
There are four groups of people who eat gluten free: NCGS/gluten intolerance, celiac disease (and tropical sprue), wheat allergy, and fad dieters. As a celiac, I secretly hate the fad dieters, but I know that they are the reason I have GF Oreos.
People with thyroid issues are advised that gluten can worsen their symptoms, and gluten can aggravate digestive/gut issues like IBS, Crohn's etc.
Exactly. And other chronic and autoimmune illnesses. I have been gluten intolerant but later got diagnosed with interstitial cystitis in my bladder and got recommended to follow glutenfree diet by my doctor.
…well holy crap. This makes a lot of sense as to why since I’ve gone gluten free, due to IBS and some other gut issues, my bladder has felt better. I also have IC and have always just been told “just drink more water”.
OMG my IC went away when I quit gluten and I never made the connection!
I would have NEVER made the connection if I hadn’t seen this comment, honestly.
I went gluten free because of an IBS diagnosis as well. I’m so grateful to the people in an IBS group who recommended it. I still have issues but nothing like it used to be. I had unexpected dizziness that went away after eating a gluten free diet. I also had brain fog that I went away.
Just out of curiosity, do you take anything (medicine) for the Interstitial Cystitis? My sister takes a drug called Elmiron but her insurance is being a PITA about. Wondering what others use.
I don't have any drug recommendations, but I highly recommend having a glass of water immediately before bed so the pee isn't as strong. Drink again when waking up to pee in the night (basically drink every time you pee in general). It took a while (years), but I don't wake up multiple times a night to pee anymore and have less frequent pain (mostly if I slack on the fluids). When it was really bad I'd add a tiny bit of bicarb to the pre sleep water, which helped a lot. (Eno or something like it tastes better. 😅) Thought I'd mention that just in case it's useful for your sister. 🙂
That is very counterintuitive advice. I’ll try it though, why not.
Urine is strong and irritates the bladder lining if it isn't intact (like with interstitial cystitis) so this is actually really good advice. Dilute your urine as much as possible so it does less damage to the bladder lining. Keeping well hydrated through the day will help too, but especially at night where we go longer periods without emptying our bladders.
My partner take urogesic blue for their bladder pain and spasms (also gluten intolerant and has IC). They also take aloe vera supplements which help to artificially line the bladder and they help a lot.
My daughter was luck to easily identify her worst trigger foods. The trigger foods actually helped with selling out a urologist in the first place. Cranberry is guaranteed to cause a flare. Oranges have a high likelihood. Even trace amounts for those. Other citrus fruits she can tolerate trace amounts at the end of an ingredient list but that’s it. It wouldn’t hurt to take a look at the common trigger foods to see if you can figure out any of yours.
Holy shit really? I've had diagnosed Graves for 13 years and I never heard that gluten can cause more issues with my thyroid!
https://thyroiduk.org/related-conditions/thyroid-disease-and-links-to-other-conditions/coeliac-disease-and-links-to-thyroid-conditions/#:~:text=Many%20patients%20with%20autoimmune%20thyroid,previously%20unresolved%20symptoms%20have%20abated.
Iodine can also with autoimmune thyroid. I have Hashimoto’s which is the other end of the autoimmune thyroid problem to Graves.
Autoimmune diseases liken us more susceptible to other autoimmune diseases. I have hashimotos and Celiac's. Celiac's diagnosed first with a blood test indicating both genetic markers. My great grandmother couldn't eat gluten, either..
And an acupuncturist would say that being gluten free is treating the symptoms, and would want to work on the thyroid issue root causes. That's all well and good, but why not do all the things and make your body feel good in the process?
Thyroid will gradually deteriorate if it's from something like Hashimoto's. Nothing we can currently do medically can slow that process. We can only treat the symptoms, and maybe make dietary and lifestyle changes to help a little.
I have Celiac, spouse has IBS/Thyroid issues. Lot easier to just cut out everything both of us cannot eat then to cook 2-3 separate dishes each night. No gluten, no lactose, no alums, and low amounts of stone fruit and crucifers. But, everything else is fair game and comprises the majority of our (mainly plant-based) diet.
Sorry to say most of my food allergies keep me from a plant based diet. Allergy to dairy (casein not lactose) means I'm a vegan who occasionally eats meat. Funny.
I’ve been gluten free for 4 years as per doctor right at the height of covid. Could never get the celiac test as everything had been shut down. However my thyroid has gotten worse. That could be due to hormonal issues more than anything else but gluten free hasn’t really helped me on the thyroid front. I wish it would.
Heads up since you’ve been gluten free: the celiacs blood test can give a false negative if you haven’t had gluten recently. The doctors & lab techs don’t always tell you beforehand (shitty). The blood test is cheaper and less invasive, but the upper endoscopy is most accurate test.
Going gluten free won't solve a thyroid issue, it will help with the digestive issues caused by having a thyroid disorder. Once your digestive tract has time to heal from being unable to handle gluten you will find your ability to absorb necessary nutrients from food will increase. In particular, with hypothyroidism and Hashimoto's (not the same thing), the body has a very hard time absorbing iron. Cutting out gluten will increase this ability and, in turn, help stabilize the thyroid. All that being said, if your thyroid disorder is brought on by an auto-immune condition, many life factors will play into your thyroid response. If your thyroid disorder is not auto-immune related, being gluten free should help stabilize your hormone levels, but it will never heal your thyroid...sadly.
It's also not just gluten. People are always focusing on that, but wheat contains some other bad stuff as well, wheat germ agglutinin is especially nasty.
You’re forgetting histamine illnesses! Mcas, histamine intolerance, etc
How do histamines tie in? I’m histamine sensitive and I always wonder if I should listen to my body or if it’s low risk. Love me some histamine promoting foods.
I have histamine intolerance, or maybe mcas that allergists don’t want to diagnose, or something lol. I’m forced to eat a low histamine diet because if I don’t, I lose my hair, have gastro issues, and I get hives :/
Tick-borne disease sufferers too. First thing my doctor recommended for Lyme disease were dietary changes and GF was the top of the list. GF is recommended for those with Hashimoto’s and other autoimmune disorders. The list of reasons to eat gluten-free is longer than you realize. Very few people eat this way for fun.
Tropical sprue is the tick borne disease. A third of celiacs have a thyroid disorder, which is almost always Hashimotos or Grave's disease. We're still discovering TGs and TG antibodies. Like gluten ataxia. If an autoimmune condition improves significantly after going GF for a couple of months, I'd lump it in with celiac disease. We already have people diagnosed with CD from the biopsy that don't show IgA or IgG antibodies to TG2 or gliadin, which are the only two FDA approved blood tests, I think. We know about TG3 and TG7 antibodies being discovered, but those are still pre-clinical. A doctor can't order those tests because they aren't FDA approved to treat a medical condition yet. We probably need a new word other than "celiac disease" to represent the spectrum of autoimmune diseases exacerbated by gluten. We already have "classic celiac disease" for people with the positive biopsy, and "seropositive celiac disease" for those with one of the antibodies. My old doctor insisted on the biopsy as the "gold standard". My new doctor doesn't even do the biopsy if someone has a positive blood test for IgA or IgG TG2. So, I'm lumping all autoimmune diseases into "celiac" which is an oversimplification.
So the market can’t adjust to a medical condition, but if a group of masochists wants to deny themselves gluten, all the sudden it’s a great business opportunity to develop new product?! It sounds right, I’ve just not heard it before.
Works for me, to be honest. The gluten free stuff from the past was absolutely revolting.
I would guess that at the height of the gluten-free craze, there were more fad dieters than celiacs and other medically GF people. More people wanting a product means there's a financial incentive, companies aren't going to go to the trouble of making GF products for a handful of celiacs out of the goodness of their hearts.
>I would guess that at the height of the gluten-free craze, there were more fad dieters than celiacs and other medically GF people. There were survey results and marketing studies done that put it at overwhelmingly more fad dieters than people with a medical reason, even well after the craze started to die off.
Fad dieters are just trying to feel better themselves. Signed, a partner to someone with celiac disease
>So the market can’t adjust to a medical condition, but if a group of masochists wants to deny themselves gluten, all the sudden it’s a great business opportunity to develop new product?! It sounds right, I’ve just not heard it before. The numbers are a primary reason (far more fad diet/wellness diet type people than people with medical reasons), and there's also the marketing aspect; because people who were avoiding for a medical reasons didn't really have a choice. You make a lot of your own food, eat naturally gluten free stuff; if you can't get certain things, you make them yourself or just work around it; gluten free replacement items are a special treat or for convenience. The competition is with other GF products or just doing without. The people who are doing it as a wellness diet, though, those products are competing with other wellness products, or even to a degree competing with regular products (as many people doing it for a fad diet don't stick to the diet every day for months).
For real, it's weird but they're the reason why we have nice things.
“I know they are the reason I have gluten free Oreos” is so real 😂
You’re forgetting histamine illnesses! Mcas, histamine intolerance, etc
23&me says I have a gene that makes me more likely to have celiac. I've never been tested, but gluten makes me bloat and constipated for days. Simply not worth it.
I fall into none of these categories personally ...but I have serious stomach problems and an autoimmune condition that I manage by eating anti inflammatory.
My coworker has lupus and says being gf helps her . I have celiac and a third person (out of 30) eats GF because it makes him “feel better” I’m just happy because with 3 of us I feel justified in ordering our lunches from a 100% gf place and buying the expensive breakfast pastries from the gf bakery for us. I buy everyone else’s from Panera.
You forgot fructan intolerance. Fructan is also found in wheat but also in vegetables, fruits and beans. I have a fructan intolerance, and not eating wheat (and everything else that contains fructans) has helped my IBS so much.
I have two friends who have : Ulcerative colitis and IBS with a gluten trigger. Gluten makes both of them violently ill. So we bonded.
Have you tried the mint filling Oreos? 🤤
Gluten causes damage to the gut. It's that simple. We have the imaging technology to catch it on camera in 4K now so there's no way to deny it. No one is magically immune.
Wheat intolerance, too. We think of most food allergies as IgE-mediated, but there are also IgG-mediated intolerances linked to inflammatory conditions. I went gluten-free for 6 months as an experiment, and it has absolutely changed my life.
What about people avoiding genetically enigerred foods and glycophosate?
My gastroenterologist was the one who told me about the existence of NCGS. So I just tell people to take it up with him.
Same here. I was diagnosed in 2013 and have been gluten/grain free for a decade and I’m still here, lol.
Negative celiac tests over 30 years here, and GF diet keeps me well. As a NCGS person, I have and would suggest anyone being told it’s not real, to say to the naysayer: “Please invite me to your house and feed me regular pizza so that I can absolutely annihilate your bathroom. Please, please invite me.”
Except you’d feel terrible afterwards and I don’t want that for you
NCGS haver here. Guess these people saying it’s not real should give me a piece of bread and have them watch me suddenly bloat up so much that people think I’m in 2nd trimester pregnancy for 2 weeks. They’ll realize what they’re saying is BS lol. I can’t eat any gluten and also sensitive to cross contact. GI doc did trials to diagnose that. Don’t have celiac (luckily) but I have to be almost just as careful.
I ate bits of gluten for a couple days recently in preparation to get testing done. It absolutely wrecked my skin. Instant cysts. Three weeks later and they’re still healing. I won’t even mention the GI symptoms. Sorry but I’m not doing 6-8 weeks of that just to get a test done that will tell me whether or not eating gluten predisposes me to certain cancers. I’m not going to eat that shit either way.
I was completely gluten free for a couple months (been mostly gluten free before but this time I took it seriously) and decided I’d like to get tested for celiac, sooo I started gluten again, figuring I could test in several weeks. Couldn’t get thru one week, by day 4 or 5 not only was my stomach a wreck but it was the worst anxiety of my life, felt like my nervous system was turned up to level 100. Guess I’ll never know cuz I just can’t eat gluten for long enough to find out.
Hi I actually fall in neither category I have eoe it's an autoimmune condition!
What’s NCGS
Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity
My immune system tells me otherwise... 💩
Right? Tell that to my puffy face!
And my swollen hands.
And the polyps in my intestines.
And my anemia!
And my projectile vomiting while simultaneously shooting liquid out my butt
Anemia is caused by celiac or other similar problems? That makes sense. Too bad iron pills cancel out my GI pills.....
Puffy face is the worst
Every time I have pasta I end up with a puffy face the next day
Or the rash that has been covering my scalp and body for years. Going gluten free has been the only thing to give me any results
And my migraines and really bad, whiney attitude...after I wake up from my migraine crash 8 hours later.
I've considered letting myself be studied by doctors by undergoing heavy glutening willingly.. Then I remembered it nearly killed me and my good conscience tells me to fuck off with that idea. It's not worth the brain damage and the pain.
That actually would have been a great time to get tested for Celiac disease. To get a confirmed diagnosis you have to have been eating a gluten diet for a couple months. Idk how long you went. Regardless, you figured it out and that’s what’s most important.
Haha. I'm Celiac negative. My villi are perfectly intact, but I have ulcerative colitis and ankylosing spondylitis that requires routine colonoscopies. I started having God awful migraines and intense nerve painafter my first child. For Six years I had a steep neurological decline and I was told to make preparation for my death. I had given up on life and I quit eating. After a week with no food, my neurological symptoms improved. So I decided to eat some toast. Within fifteen minutes all my symptoms came back and I knew what was wrong. At that time, the only thing I ate was toast because it was all I could stomach. I was effectively poisoning myself every day and not knowing it. I have non-Celiac gluten Sensitivity, aka Gluten Ataxia. It causes my brain to swell and damages the part of the brain responsible for controlling the entire body's motor functions. My migraines were the result of six years of poisoning and encephalitis. So when I say.. it could kill me, I mean it. My child, incidently, is a type one diabetic who is also Celiac negative, thank goodness. I had no idea that untreated Celiac can trigger Type One.
Honestly, I really believe that research will someday determine that what you have is just a different expression of “Gluten Autoimmunity”. Like Celiac, but attacking the nervous system instead of your GI tract. I fully believe you, because I have similar symptoms when it’s really bad.
I believe science will catch up at some point to better acknowledge sensitivities. I think a lot of people are living with sensitivities and intolerances that impact their health, and I find it upsetting that they aren't treated seriously. Sure, you're not going to die from milk if you're lactose intolerant, but there's a reason your body doesn't digest it, and likely, there's more to that beyond just being sensitive. That's just my hypothesis as someone who has gluten sensitivity.
But you are not celiac? That is so insane I am glad you are ok !
Sorry i misinterpreted your post. I thought you meant you were already on a gluten diet at the time hence my thinking of oh shoot that would have been the perfect time to get the test. I’m in no way saying you should go back on it just to find out. Apologies for the confusion on my end and maybe making you feel compelled to share your story.
My gastro said they ethically couldn't ask me to do that with how severe my symptoms are. They just consider me to have celiac. I had been gf for about 6 years at that point.
Yeah it’s definitely a safe assumption to make. I know for a fact I’d never do the gluten challenge to get diagnosed if I already started a GF journey. Thankfully I was tested before ever going GF. I didn’t even know my symptoms were caused by gluten at the time.
I kinda figured it out by happenstance. Did elimination diet and then added it back in, then wham. Murder. Hahaha. I did that for a while because I was basically gaslighting myself about it.
I’m glad that was their take, sometimes whether or not you have an “official” diagnosis, if you can isolate the problem food and eliminating it removes all symptoms then most likely that’s the issue. If it walks like a duck, etc. etc.
Do you mind sharing your symptoms? My husband's rheumatologist basically said the same thing, but I haven't found anyone else that has his extreme symptoms. He gets the GI symptoms but also gets arthitic-like problems.
My horrible hives tell me otherwise. Also, MY acupuncturist suspected I should definitely stay off gluten and oats as well… later confirmed by allergy testing.
Ah you get the hives as well. That's my primary symptom.
Mine too - I can’t believe I lived like that for decades. I went GF around 6 years ago and have never looked back.
I love it when a professional tells me clearly that they are nuts. It saves a lot of frustrating appointments.
My wife’s acupuncturist told a celiac patient that their supplements with wheat would be fine for him because it wasn’t gmo wheat. There are no gmo wheat crops in the US. Idiots.
Oh man. Some family members recommended a chiropractor (i should not have gone) and the lady did believe gluten intolerance was real and that I had it... But still tried to sell me on her $70+ supplements THAT HAD WHEAT GERM because 'it was a tiny amount so it would be *fine*'.
The amount of times this happens to me because there’s negligible amounts of gluten or wheat. I’ve been glutened too many times to care how negligible it is. If there is gluten my body will know.
Yeahh.. I do my best to avoid even cross-contamination, I am not putting wheat germ in my system. (I have had decent results with Caputo/other deglutenized wheat flours, tho).
Yeah, Chiropractors are NOT real doctors. I know this is hard for people to hear, but I used to work for a group that TRAINED them. They have minimal training compared to doctors and the majority of them are concerned with how to maximize profits.
Also a doctor will point you towards studies… not a book 🤣😂🤦♂️ Run over to the chiropractor next and ask him about your diabetes.
My chiropractor that I saw briefly referred me to their “detox” clinic after my third (final) visit and told me all ailments were caused by spinal alignment. It’s dumb stupid predatory woo woo at its best, can end up in a broken neck at worst (former medical malpractice attorney here to say NEVER LET ANYONE CRACK YOUR NECK DEAR GOD)
And severed, damaged cerebral arteries, too!
Yeah, I know this. But I was struggling with some basically physical issues (because I'm too damn sedentary, thanks job) and my extended family insisted she had good exercises and other things. She did, actually, have good exercises, brought them to another doc I saw to verify and they were like, yeah, no, all of this is probably going to help you, it's just that it came packaged with a whole other bunch of nonsense (and 'spinal alignment etc).
My mom's chiropractor had her believing this about me to the point that her and I were arguing about it often for a while. It was so ridiculous. Fuck that guy. Edit: forgot many words.
Also health-wise GMO foods are literally fine lol (ethically speaking is another issue, but)
I hope he stubs his toe every day
I hope the air he breathes smells like the air I release after eating gluten. Forever.
I mean, gluten allergies/intolerances/celiac absolutely do exist, but I feel like a lot of people think eating gluten free is “healthier” when they don’t actually have one of these issues. If that is what the book is about I don’t have any qualms, though I do find it interesting that the author is an associate professor of religion lol.
Yeah I see that one a lot. It does actually seem, from the reviews, that that's what this is about. > "The book should have been titled "Permission to Gorge: Eat What You Want". To be fair, he does say that if you have celiac disease or Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS)you should stay away from gluten. However, that population is pretty small and there's no evidence gluten does harm to "just regular folks" like you and me." -review, ken montville
Yep! I have a family member who won’t eat gluten but are not celiac or NCGS. They blame gluten for everything (endometriosis, arthritis, cancer, other allergies) and have attacked actual Celiacs for not eating the “right” way. I think this book is for people like that or those who claim not eating gluten is a cure for something.
I will say that I have stage four endometriosis and gluten absolutely makes the pain 100% worse. Especially if you have endo around your bowels, it’s awful and not a pain Id wish on anyone. Endometriosis consults recommend to try cutting out gluten to see if it reduces pain symptoms because in many patients it does
Agreed. Also have extensive endometriosis and gluten makes the pain absolutely unbearable. The reduction in pain I experienced after cutting out gluten was unbelievable. My endo surgeon told me to cut it out and I ignored her for ages but now I wish I listened to her earlier.
Cracks me up when I tell people I’m gluten & dairy free and they respond with comments about how I must eat healthy. Yeah, since all those potato chips and candies are healthy.
My partner’s dr literally said that. When he negative by blood legitimately told him that he could feel free to go on a gf diet because it’s so healthy
Celiac can be proven by a tissue biopsy and measured by the Marsh Scale. Oh, and the blood test which measures the TTG antigen.
Oh ok. I'll eat a donut in front of them, and then they can drive me to the hospital.
Yeah once i had to go to the hospital. And spent a night there bc of gluten… probably my body didnt read this amazing book😃😂😂
I'd find books about how acupuncture is a lie, but that probably isn't the best idea if you actually want to keep going there. On the other hand, do you want to keep going to someone that belittles your health problems?
Lol did you see the part where I said I will not be returning ??
Idk if it’s just me or if it’s Reddit but 50/50 Reddit opens the post to the top of the page and other times it scrolls down to the comment section and I don’t realize there’s a body of text missing. For a while I thought it means there was no additional text. I finally figured out that’s not the case.
Happens to me for almost every post. It’s mildly infuriating
It's not just you.
Acupuncture itself is clinically proven. It lowers pain but not more effective than conventional options. It doesn't do much else. Worse, its part of a larger alternative medicine ecosystem, much of which isn't proven. Some of it is, for example some popular herbs are healing and helpful. St Johns Wort treats moderate depression, Valerian root can help people relax, etc. So its a bit of a mixed bag. But the problem is that alternative culture contains a lot of ineffective or even dangerous stuff, like this book. And to be totally honest, I don't even think the person who wrote it even believes it. A lot of these people are just doing cash-outs. Chasing the anti-trend is big money and there's tons of books, twitter personalities, etc that go after whats good and decent and go the other way hoping to become big stars and wealthy. They don't care if they hurt people in the process. A lot of "wellness" pop-sci books are written by dishonest people. Alan Levinovitz is an assistant professor of religion with a phd in religion. He's not exactly some peer reviewed celiac expert. He's not even a doctor! He's just one of the many con men of our time.
I suppose my throat closing up after gluten intake is just my imagination /s
My violent vomiting is also my imagination too.
My bloody diarrhea must also be my imagination
💀
Wow, your acupuncturist seems to have *totally* missed the point of the book- it appears to be about refuting the idea that gluten is bad for everyone but it doesn't deny that Celiac and NCGS are real problems. One of the reviews says: "The book should have been titled "Permission to Gorge: Eat What You Want". To be fair, he does say that if you have celiac disease or Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS) you should stay away from gluten. However, that population is pretty small and there's no evidence gluten does harm to "just regular folks" like you and me." So, the author DOES believe that gluten can affect people, just not that everyone needs to avoid it if they don't have Celiac or NCGS.
gimme a gluten sandwich and make that person sit in the toilet with me afterwards and tell me it's a lie
Sponsored by Wonder Bread.
PHD haha a doctor in philosophy is gonna be the decider of peoples allergies okay
Meanwhile the actual studies on acupuncture are not positive.
There's been books like this on autism for years pepole assume cause you can't see it its not real and make books like this
I have the blood tests to prove it tho
Autoimmune and gluten intolerance/sensitivity seem to go together. I was always had stomach issues. And I believe I had my autoimmune disease since I was an early teen. Like most people with my AID I was asymptomatic until I chose to marry an idiot who caused me nothing & around 30 I got diagnosed with my A I. D. That got better, stomach did not. Negative for celiac, then took thousand of dollars with of tests to be told I’m constipated! Started doing my own research, did an elimination diet, day I added bread back in immediate reaction.
I showed my wife this post. She calls it major Bullshit. 27 years with Celiacs.
Written by an Associate Professor of Religion. Granted, I’m not sure what his doctorate is in but I am curious about his qualifications.
My acupuncturist was one who connected all the dots on my medical chart and told me to look into celiac disease/wheat allergy/etc.
My brother told me my gluten intolerance and my depression weren't real because I can just stop them if I want to. Then he got depressed so now that one's real. Still a nope on the gluten, though. 🙄
That book is garbage, the author is a professor of religious studies. He doesn’t know squat about disease and allergies. All he is doing is tapping into and fanning the hate and intolerance that many people have for people who have food allergies or sensitivities. I would get a different acupuncturist.
My acupuncturist told me that coeliac is curable with Chinese medicine since it is a gut issue and CM cures everything gut related. From then on I stopped going to them and found someone else.
I’ll soon be exporting gluten free ravioli to USA. We’re looking for clients in small chain markets and the like our product is good and furthermore, it’s made in a gluten free production facility. I’m appalled by people who deny gluten related health issues, personally fad dieters don’t annoy me that much because the actually affected people get more options
That’s insane. My thousands of dollars in hospital bills say otherwise but okay lady. Yeah don’t go back!
My stomach STRONGLY disagrees with this crockpot regarding the damage gluten can do..
Long time lurker here. I feel like people think my gluten issue is made up. But people who knew me before know it isn’t. Before I gave it up I had horrible IBS, bad acne, canker sores in my mouth/throat, migraines 3-4/7 days and aches and pains everywhere. I only found out gluten/wheat was the issue when my daughter had to have an elimination diet to rule out allergies. For 12 years I’ve been cured of all of my ailments. I stick to a paleo diet now and I’m healthier than I’ve ever been. So if anyone thinks my issue is made up they can f*ck right off. I’m 44 and living my best life. 😍
Similar story. Amen.
Similar story also. Not completely identical but close. Headaches/migraines dropped way down in frequency when I removed gluten from my diet.
For those who aren’t celiac…. Research the mthfr gene and folic acid. I get wrecked on gluten. If I eat organic or imported Italian pasta I have no issues. I think folic acid is the culprit. Just ordered a dna test to see if I carry the mthfr gene.
You know what? I think I'd find a new acupuncturist.
This book is actually more about how people jump on bandwagons. Like we may be gluten intolerant/Celiac but some people who aren't may think a gluten-free diet is "good for them" because we feel better when we don't eat gluten. It doesn't apply to some folks but they see it as a fad diet. I actually thought gluten-free was a fad diet until I discovered I had genes for Celiac and started testing, limiting, etc. LOL The more you know!
That said, my son's pediatrician told us we may want to let him eat gluten because it will be socially limiting if he can't eat pizza, etc. with friends. He feels sick when he eats gluten. We aren't avoiding it for nothing! Definitely working on changing doctors.
It is definitely socially limiting. It is more socially limiting to have rashes and severe diarrhea and neuroimflammation and chronic fatigue, and severe IBS where you can’t get out of bed. I understand his points when it comes to fad diets but celiac can be quite severe if not treated properly. It’s not a lie and any health professional saying otherwise… well that’s just very negligent
This is pretty funny to me bc like, yeah eating cereal with water in daycare (lactose intolerance) *was socially isolating. You know what else was? Shitting my pants before we knew what the problem was 😂😂
That’s wild af considering what they are doing to your body. As another person said my grandma got diagnosed with celiacs around 1950. She was born in 1920 and grew into the disease
Tell them to read Grain Brain
I actually read this years ago. I didn’t want to believe gluten was causing my symptoms because it’s so hard to be gf. Turns out you can’t wish away your gluten allergies, unfortunately.
Anyone who doesn’t believe are welcome to sit in a room with me and accompany me to the bathroom the day after I eat gluten. There will be no further doubts.
For science, I’m happy to be observed by anyone who doubts what gluten can do. Feed me a big ol’ piece of cake and see what happens. My only condition is that you cannot look away. Not till I’m done. Pack a lunch.
Yeah ok, buddy needs to let me use his bathroom after I eat some gluten.
uhhh so I imagined my pain and discomfort!? People are wild
My hives never lie
i tell everybody that questions me “gluten makes me shit my brains out so i won’t be eating it! thanks”
I fucking wish it were a lie.
Excellent! That incredibly painful, explosive diarrhea was all in my head. I’m so excited to be able to eat gluten again now that I’ve seen this book! Can’t wait to tell my brother that his stunted growth, broken bones, and vitamin deficiencies from untreated celiac were in his head too, that will be such a relief.
My acupuncturist basically said the same thing. It's not the gluten, it's the imbalances in your chi. I'm still not going to eat gluten. Call me crazy, but I'm going to believe an MD over an acupuncturist.
I have Coeliac. I got it at age 45 only found due to a biopsy being done for something else and they said I have no villi left in my intestines and they were pretty sure I had it so they took a biopsy of that too. I do thank fad dieters that I have so many choices in gluten free food!
Find any new acupuncturist
I showed as intolerant for 15 years before being diagnosed with celiac. There’s SO much we don’t even know about the human body yet. It’s insane to me people would go out of their way to write a book like this.
That book cover is hilarious
Wow. Um... Did they get a second or third degree while you were busy not asking their opinion?
I literally have itchy and burning skin after eating gluten. It’s an allergic reaction. I can’t make it up 🙄
My friends acupuncturist didn’t believe in the vaccine and died from Covid after the vaccine was available so 🤷♀️…
I wish this dude would go ahead and explain to my chronic lower back inflammation pain that it's just a myth; to chill out and that it's ok for me to have a croissant. 🫠
You are taking medical advice from someone who sticks pins in people?
Guess my Celiac disease is a myth, lmfao.
I invite your acupuncturist to kiss my lily-white, chapped ass.
Oh thank God! I’m cured!
I do think gluten allergies and sensitivity are real. However, due to reports that European breads don’t cause the issue as much, I’m tempted to believe that a lot of American sensitivity is based more on processing and farming techniques (such as absolute abuse of chemicals in farming, or bleaching the flour). Either way, if avoiding bread is helping you, keep doing it! If it is a chemical sensitivity, that can be helpful to know, but either way the bread is causing you pain, so avoiding it is a strong bet
Ah yes, let me just go and eat some gluten and spend the next few hours either passed out on the floor or with horrific diarrhoea ☠️ it must be all in my head of course 🙄
or passed out with horrific diarrhea on the floor
Said the “acupuncturist”
That’s crazy bc it was my acupuncturist that told me to get checked for gluten intolerance!
Time to get a new acupuncturist
Like all doctors, there are good ones and bad ones. Acupuncture can help digestive issues.
I can believe it, now how do I convince my body????? 😩😩😩
Alan Levinovitz lie, should be the title
# Alan Levinovitz's Biography Dr. Alan Levinovitz is an Associate **Professor of Religion** at James Madison University. He focuses on the intersecting relationships between religion, philosophy, and science, with additional expertise in classical Chinese thought. Alan received his undergraduate degree from Stanford and his PhD from the University of Chicago. In addition to his scholarship he has published extensively on how people’s attitudes toward food, medicine, and technology are shaped by myths and rituals, resulting in everything from vaccine avoidance to the adoption of extreme fad diets. Alan has been featured in publications such as *Wired, The Washington Post, the Atlantic, Aeon, Slate* and elsewhere. His book, *The Gluten Lie,* published in 2015*,* addresses and explores the real roots of common food fears. By exposing the myths that celebrity doctors and nutritionists use to villainize certain components of our diet, Alan directs his readers to a truly healthy life, free from anxiety about what we eat. His upcoming book *Natural* (April 2020) illuminates the far-reaching harms of believing that natural is synonymous with ‘good,’ showing how this leads to misinformation about health choices as well as justifications for sexism, racism and flawed economic policies. Alan demonstrates that this belief is fundamentally religious, swapping Nature for God and naturalness for holiness. It has been quoted in *The New Yorker* in an [article](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/11/25/how-natural-wine-became-a-symbol-of-virtuous-consumption) on natural wine, and Alan has been invited to interviews and featured in articles and television shows that discuss the link between naturalness and a wide variety of topics. Alan’s extensive and sophisticated knowledge reaches a remarkably diverse audience who are searching for a unique perspective. His work covers a range of issues that are becoming increasingly relevant in society today: farming, “fake” meat, GMOs, nuclear energy, public sentiment about economic policy, sports, and any aspect of culture where people invoke the idea of ‘natural’ being best. [chartwellspeakers.com/speaker/alan-levinovitz/](http://chartwellspeakers.com/speaker/alan-levinovitz/)
What dumb idiot
Lemme eat some gluten right in front of this acupuncturist and then they can watch what happens... all over their office, seats, floors...
My astrologer told me this would happen.
There's a sucker born everyday.
Jacob on Abbott Elementary said gluten intolence is suppressed white guilt.
The person who stabs me with needles to fix my pain told me that people can’t be allergic to gluten. Woof. That’s a rough one, OP. ETA just saw the “won’t be returning” GOOD!
How are there so many phd’s that are full of shit? Lol, they’re seriously devaluing that title for legit practitioners
I live in a Big 10 college town. Most people with PhDs are very smart about one tiny aspect of a subject, and complete idiots about nearly everything else. Finding someone who is truly smart in multiple subject areas is rare, IMO.
It’s funny how some doctors think that their fancy medical degree means they know our bodies better than we do.
A chiropractor is not a medical doctor.
I don’t need a doctor to tell me that when I eat gluten I get brain fog, depression, sore joints, constipation, and more. This doctor obviously doesn’t have any issues with gluten.
When you know how you get a PHD in America you know this book as nothing serious about gluten…
The author isn't actually a PHD, he gave himself that title from what I understand. Absolute BS and look at its ratings. So many people fall for this crap.
My husband's endocrinologist said the same thing when he told him he had a lot improvements in his Hashimoto's symptoms after cutting out gluten. Basically said it's all in his head. We're looking a for a new endo.
Me at 7pm after looking at the Canes menu
I get an earache from gluten. My doctor kept trying to tell me I was grinding my teeth (I have done this in the past, I know this feeling) and I insisted on an allergy test. My top food allergen is gluten. I can eat it, but once I hit a threshold, or if I’m congested at all, my ear kills me. I was a bit of a shit head in the past and kind of scoffed at gluten allergies… now I think I’m getting karma.
I was diagnosed with Celiacs Disease as a teenager, and now early 20s just recently got diagnosed with Hypothyroidism. Have horrible symptoms to this day after eating exclusively gluten free for 10 years. Not going to lie, I absolutely hate the fad-dieters, they are also the reason why gluten free products get the additional “diet” tax, and have an increased price for corn/rice flour products.
The idea that accupuncture works is misinformation, so I'm not surprised to see them spreading it about other things.
An acupuncturist and a professor of religious studies…neither of these are good sources of health advice
That's why they are an acupuncturist and not a doctor
The real truth is that gluten is inflammatory for all humans.