The Importance of Determining Whether or Not You Are Sensitive to Gluten

In my journey to enlightenment about all things healthy, I have noticed a “gluten free” movement happening under our very noses. I never stopped to ask why, and admittedly was even skeptical about the whole “gluten intolerance thing” to begin with. Haven’t we always eaten wheat? Why are people just now realizing that this is a serious issue? Could it all just be in our heads?

An article titled “Gluten: What You Don’t Know Might Kill You” published by Dr. Hymann explains, “The question that remains is: Why are we so sensitive to this “staff of life,” the staple of our diet? There are many reasons … They include our lack of genetic adaptation to grasses, and particularly gluten, in our diet. Wheat was introduced into Europe during the Middle Ages, and 30 percent of people of European descent carry the gene for celiac disease (HLA DQ2 or HLA DQ8), (xii) which increases susceptibility to health problems from eating gluten. American strains of wheat have a much higher gluten content (which is needed to make light, fluffy Wonder Bread and giant bagels) than those traditionally found in Europe. This super-gluten was recently introduced into our agricultural food supply and now has “infected” nearly all wheat strains in America.”

So, our genetically-modified, processed, and refined food has super-gluten in it too… What a shocker.

In fact, the Celiac disease rate has risen by 400% in just the past 50 years, according to Celiac.com.

But you don’t have to have Celiac disease for gluten to be bad for you, in fact it’s quite the contrary. There are a multitude of different symptoms of gluten sensitivity or intolerance, and even having one of them could mean you’re at a substantially higher risk of death by a major disease, such as heart disease or cancer.

Dr. Hymann published another article titled “How Do I Know If I’m Gluten Intolerant”, and he says, “Gluten sensitivity is actually an autoimmune disease that creates inflammation throughout the body, with wide-ranging effects across all organ systems including your brain, heart, joints, digestive tract, and more. It can be the single cause behind many different “diseases.” To correct these diseases, you need to treat the cause – which is often gluten sensitivity – not just the symptoms.”

This means that gluten sensitivity makes you much, much more likely to contract another disease. The importance of determining whether or not you are sensitive to gluten is quite literally life-or-death, and simply eliminating it from your diet takes this risk away. Yet many are still ignoring the signs that their bodies are giving them to make a change. The beginning of a long, healthy, happy life starts with the opening of our eyelids, and is set into motion by making a real change.

Sources:

Celiac Disease Rates Skyrocket: Up 400% in Last 50 Years – Celiac.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.celiac.com/articles/21859/1/Celiac-Disease-Rates-Skyrocket-Up-400-in-Last-50-Years/Page1.html

Gluten:What You Don’t Know Might Kill You – Dr. Mark Hyman. (n.d.).Retrieved from http://drhyman.com/blog/2011/03/17/gluten-what-you-dont-know-might-kill-you/

How Do I Know If I’m Gluten Intolerant? – Dr. Mark Hyman. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://drhyman.com/blog/2010/05/12/how-do-i-know-if-im-gluten-intolerant/