5 ms·

I'm just going to listen to my body. Had the blood test twice, negative both times, yet after years of isolation diets and experimentation, it's gluten that giv

I'm just going to listen to my body. Had the blood test twice, negative both times, yet after years of isolation diets and experimentation, it's gluten that gives me diarrhoea and eczema and by not eating it, I'm fine. The doctors I spoke to before I worked out the cause just said "oh it's IBS, you'll just have to manage it".. except by giving up gluten I'm 100% fine, ha! I appreciate "hipsters" who avoid gluten because they help increase the variety of gluten free food options, but I'd just go paleo if it went away because the sickness isn't worth it.

mrfusion 10y ago
Have you tried organic vs non organic gluten containing products? I e always been curious if cases like yours are herbicide pesticide related.
- petercooper 10y ago
  I haven't. I'd give it a go but I'd need to have a week where I wasn't going far afield(!) :) I eat gluten-free food which isn't marked as organic and have no problems with that so far. I do acknowledge my reactions might not be gluten per se and could be more subtle. However, my father does have biopsy-confirmed celiac disease, so I'm wondering if I've "caught it early" - GI trouble is the main malady across my father's family so if restricting my diet keeps me away from that, I'll pay that price as I've never been a foodie anyway :-)
  - mrfusion 10y ago
    Very interesting. A blind test would be interesting too. Eat gluten and gluten free versions of the same food without knowing which is which.
- ptaipale 10y ago
  Just for the note, "organic" does not mean "herbicide and pesticide free". It means "using only herbicides and pesticides approved by the governing body". Frequently quoted in HN: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/science-sushi/httpblogsscientificamericancomscience-sushi20110718mythbusting-101-organic-farming-conventional-agriculture/ https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/science-sushi/httpblogs...
  - mrfusion 10y ago
    You're right. I should have clarified I'm most concerned about roundup.
    - ptaipale 10y ago
      It might be worth testing what makes one feel better. But you should do it with a blind study, to avoid bias and placebo effect. It could indeed be that Roundup causes prolbems , although rationally thinking, the pesticides used in organic farming could be a more likely reason - e.g. copper is far more toxic to mammals (LD50 30 mg/kg) than Roundup (5600 mg/kg, safer by a factor of 100), and the amounts used in organic farming can be higher then those used with Roundup in conventional farming.
redpillamerica 10y ago
Ditto. I had stomach issues my entire life, diagnosed with "IBS", and tried a variety of solutions, from prescribed drugs to exercise to removing dairy from my diet. None of these had any discernible effect on my symptoms. Finally in my mid 30s, at my wits end, I tried a gluten-free diet. Now 7 years later, my symptoms are 80-90% improved. And, note, whenever I reintroduce gluten into my diet, my previous symptoms return.
cgh 10y ago
It's likely FODMAPs: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FODMAP https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FODMAP These are found in foods that coincidentally also contain gluten and there's a demonstrated effect on digestion.
- tssva 10y ago
  Exactly this. Most of the foods people with "gluten sensitivity" start to avoid also happen to be triggers for IBS which is most likely their real issue.
- jamesrcole 10y ago
  You claim it's likely FODMAPs. What's your evidence for that?
  - basch 10y ago
    the guy who first brought up gluten sensitivity recanted and now cites FODMAPs as the likely cause. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23648697 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23648697 which happens to be the article your commenting on to begin with!, just for some reason a dupe from two years later. its in the first sentence of the abstract.
    - jamesrcole 10y ago
      I have a friend who strictly follows a low FODMAP diet, so I'm fairly familiar with it. The thing is, if you are following a strict gluten-free diet it is very likely you are eating lots of high-FODMAP foods! (have a look at http://www.ibsdiets.org/fodmap-diet/fodmap-food-list/ http://www.ibsdiets.org/fodmap-diet/fodmap-food-list/ for example, if you want to check it out for yourself). So I don't see how "avoiding gluten" could be confused with FODMAP issues in most cases. Also, as I've posted in another comment, there's been more recent research, in a reputable journal, which has found a biological explanation of wheat sensitivity. See this article for a write-up: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160726123632.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160726123632.h...

mrfusion 10y ago

Have you tried organic vs non organic gluten containing products? I e always been curious if cases like yours are herbicide pesticide related.

petercooper 10y ago
I haven't. I'd give it a go but I'd need to have a week where I wasn't going far afield(!) :) I eat gluten-free food which isn't marked as organic and have no problems with that so far. I do acknowledge my reactions might not be gluten per se and could be more subtle. However, my father does have biopsy-confirmed celiac disease, so I'm wondering if I've "caught it early" - GI trouble is the main malady across my father's family so if restricting my diet keeps me away from that, I'll pay that price as I've never been a foodie anyway :-)
- mrfusion 10y ago
  Very interesting. A blind test would be interesting too. Eat gluten and gluten free versions of the same food without knowing which is which.
ptaipale 10y ago
Just for the note, "organic" does not mean "herbicide and pesticide free". It means "using only herbicides and pesticides approved by the governing body". Frequently quoted in HN: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/science-sushi/httpblogsscientificamericancomscience-sushi20110718mythbusting-101-organic-farming-conventional-agriculture/ https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/science-sushi/httpblogs...
- mrfusion 10y ago
  You're right. I should have clarified I'm most concerned about roundup.
  - ptaipale 10y ago
    It might be worth testing what makes one feel better. But you should do it with a blind study, to avoid bias and placebo effect. It could indeed be that Roundup causes prolbems , although rationally thinking, the pesticides used in organic farming could be a more likely reason - e.g. copper is far more toxic to mammals (LD50 30 mg/kg) than Roundup (5600 mg/kg, safer by a factor of 100), and the amounts used in organic farming can be higher then those used with Roundup in conventional farming.

redpillamerica 10y ago

Ditto. I had stomach issues my entire life, diagnosed with "IBS", and tried a variety of solutions, from prescribed drugs to exercise to removing dairy from my diet. None of these had any discernible effect on my symptoms. Finally in my mid 30s, at my wits end, I tried a gluten-free diet. Now 7 years later, my symptoms are 80-90% improved. And, note, whenever I reintroduce gluten into my diet, my previous symptoms return.

cgh 10y ago

It's likely FODMAPs: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FODMAP https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FODMAP These are found in foods that coincidentally also contain gluten and there's a demonstrated effect on digestion.

tssva 10y ago
Exactly this. Most of the foods people with "gluten sensitivity" start to avoid also happen to be triggers for IBS which is most likely their real issue.
jamesrcole 10y ago
You claim it's likely FODMAPs. What's your evidence for that?
- basch 10y ago
  the guy who first brought up gluten sensitivity recanted and now cites FODMAPs as the likely cause. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23648697 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23648697 which happens to be the article your commenting on to begin with!, just for some reason a dupe from two years later. its in the first sentence of the abstract.
  - jamesrcole 10y ago
    I have a friend who strictly follows a low FODMAP diet, so I'm fairly familiar with it. The thing is, if you are following a strict gluten-free diet it is very likely you are eating lots of high-FODMAP foods! (have a look at http://www.ibsdiets.org/fodmap-diet/fodmap-food-list/ http://www.ibsdiets.org/fodmap-diet/fodmap-food-list/ for example, if you want to check it out for yourself). So I don't see how "avoiding gluten" could be confused with FODMAP issues in most cases. Also, as I've posted in another comment, there's been more recent research, in a reputable journal, which has found a biological explanation of wheat sensitivity. See this article for a write-up: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160726123632.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160726123632.h...