The other day I heard a conversation that really bothered me. It took everything in my power not to interject, but we all know that sometimes it’s not appropriate to speak your mind to strangers in public places. This blog is my place, though, so I’m about to let ‘er rip.
The conversation was happening between two women who were casual acquaintances. Woman A mentioned having baked gluten-free muffins that morning. Woman B said that she didn’t know the woman was Celiac. Woman A said that she’s not, but she avoids gluten by choice.
Woman B (someone in the healthcare field) got quite aggressive then and told the woman that avoiding gluten when you’re not Celiac is a dangerous practice. She said that when you don’t eat gluten, you can lose the cilia in your bowel and those little cilia might never work again.
That was absolute misinformation that she was feeding Woman A.
Gluten sensitivity really should have us all scared stiff of wheat.
What this woman was saying was the exact opposite of what really happens when you eat gluten. It’s gluten that destroys the cilia and it takes years of gluten-free eating to help heal your digestive system.
I watched an excellent video about gluten sensitivity the other day, and I have to tell you that Dr. Tom O’Bryan really does know his stuff.
In this video, Dr. O’Bryan shared five things that most people don’t know about gluten. One of the items on his list should shock you out of that sandwich you’re thinking about eating! He mentioned a study of folks who suffer from headaches, where 36% of the patients who eat gluten have dead brain tissue. In most of these cases of recurrent headaches, gluten is the culprit. Cut out the gluten and the headaches go away. Some studies show that the tissues in the brain can regenerate on a gluten-free diet. I sincerely hope that’s the case!
Dr. O’Bryan also talks about how gluten is messing with our skin, it’s zapping our energy, and it’s even linked to higher cases of suicide—especially among children.
You really should watch this video. It’s just under twelve minutes long, and it’s essential health information.
One of the most interesting takeaways, for me, was that when you are gluten-free, you really can’t eat ANY amount of gluten. All it would take to set off a negative response in a Celiac would be 1/8th of a thumbnail of food containing wheat.
Now I feel like I should track down the lady in that argument and point her to this article!
PS–Are you looking to eat gluten-free? You should try our Dinner Answers Paleo menus!