4 ms·

Cutting gluten out of my life basically "cured" my depression, which sounds crazy, since it is just something I'm eating... I'm not allergic, but probably into

Cutting gluten out of my life basically "cured" my depression, which sounds crazy, since it is just something I'm eating... I'm not allergic, but probably intolerant. I ate wheat for most of my life. I'm pretty sure it is related to inflammation, and how eating wheat products probably screwed my digestion up. I also rarely get sick anymore. Not trying to suggest that medicine, therapy, etc. does or does not work, just that there may be some other things that people can consider and experiment with.

cbau 9y ago
Did you ever feel like gluten was affecting you? Or was this a random change you made that happened to have a noticeable effect?
- gblain23 9y ago
  Definitely gluten. I've experimented with eating it, not eating it, and now have been gluten free for over 5 years since. My brother stopped eating gluten a few years after I did, and it also had a major impact on his mental and physical wellbeing.
- r00fus 9y ago
  Not sure for gblain, but for me I actually broke out in pimples when eating excessive wheat/bread. Under a certain limit, I just felt bad. However, I'm not sure if it's just gluten or glyphosate toxicity [1] (being concentrated in GMO wheat as that includes "roundup ready wheat" which, clearly gets more roundup on it). [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15862083 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15862083
1_player 9y ago
It's crazy, isn't it? Cutting gluten has become somewhat of a meme, but a meme repeated enough times must have some kind of truth to it. I've self diagnosed myself to a combination of depression/cyclothymia/bipolar disorder. Basically, I've been working at 50% potential, on a good day, for the past 10 years. Interested in the science behind ketogenic diets, I've tried to cut all grains and processed food for many month-long stretches, and I've always noticed my brain being sharper, and moving farther and farther away from the "black dog". But eventually I get back in the trap and it's extremely hard to pull myself up again — impossibly hard cutting grains with Italian friends and family. Keto probably isn't the solution, but I'm more and more convinced the key lies in our gut, not in our brain chemistry. EDIT: depression is a common modern "disease", and in my ignorant opinion, I'm convinced there's two types of depression: You might be depressed if your life is in the shitter, and there's no sane way of getting out of it. Think bad marriage or crippling loneliness. You might also be depressed because your chemistry isn't optimal, because of what you eat or bad health. I believe most modern depression is of the latter type, and in both cases medication treats the symptoms, not the actual cause. We need to do more work on this. Again, this is my personal opinion, and I might be talking out of my arse.
porker 9y ago
I've been gluten free for 10 months. To start with I thought it made a difference - sharper mind, not constantly bloated (and I'm not talking minor, but '8 months pregnant' bloating after any meal). The mind maybe, but the bloating and sluggishness has come back, along with the apathy, lethargy and a touch of depression. Gluten (I've tried introducing it back this last week) or no gluten, the bloating's the same and sometimes worse when avoiding gluten. Back to the drawing board, but for those reading, YMMV.
owebmaster 9y ago
> Not trying to suggest that medicine, therapy, etc. does or does not work, just that there may be some other things that people can consider and experiment with. Why not suggest this? It is so funny to see people been so skeptical about religion and always so believer in anything called science.
megaman22 9y ago
Cutting gluten probably is a net-positive, for most people, if for no other reason than it drastically reduces the amount of simple carbohydrates that you consume, and more often than not, the total number of calories consumed. Whether or not that it is actually the gluten that makes any difference, for non-celiacs, I'm less certain. I feel much better when I get closer to a ketogenic diet of eggs, meat, and green vegetables, but, again, I'm probably consuming on the order of 1000 to 1500 calories less per day when I do so.
Omnius 9y ago
1 hour hold account 1 hour old comment. I am not trying to be negative but i have seen no science to state that cutting gluten is going to do anything at all for anyone unless they have Celiac disease. You want to back that up with study or something? Its just WOO if i am wrong i will be happy to eat some crow. Further more the comment near this one about some imaginary threshold of MEME count gives something legitimacy. REALLY? WHERE AM I!!
- graphitezepp 9y ago
  I believe there are a few other conditions besides Celiacs which are pretty serious that make eating gluten a bad look, though less prominent.
- scythe 9y ago
  It's also impossible to know that you don't have celiac disease unless you've had an immunoassay that comes up negative. Not all celiac cases show severe GI symptoms. As such assuming that someone does not have celiac disease who has not been tested has a 1-2% false negative rate. Secondly, gluten can aggravate FODMAPs sensitivity: http://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085(13)00702-6/fulltext http://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085(13)00702-6/f... This study is often cited to "prove" that non-celiac gluten sensitivity does not exist, but what it actually shows is that most "NCGS" cases are caused by FODMAPs and that gluten can aggravate the symptoms in a person who has not cut out FODMAPs: >In all participants, gastrointestinal symptoms consistently and significantly improved during reduced FODMAP intake, but significantly worsened to a similar degree when their diets included gluten or whey protein. Gluten increases GI residence time in everybody, which is not an unhealthy effect on its own, but which can increase the duration of exposure to any dietary irritant: http://www.gastrojournal.org/article/0016-5085(83)90374-8/pdf http://www.gastrojournal.org/article/0016-5085(83)90374-8/pd... >Hydrolyzed gluten prolonged intestinal transit time, and this effect was reversed by concomitant administration of naloxone It's seriously that easy to just look up "gluten sensitivity" on Google Scholar or SciFinder or (insert academic search site here) to find these sort of studies. And frankly it's kind of annoying to see people who won't even go to that level of effort degrading the actual personal experiences of someone who is simply trying to improve their own life.
zamalek 9y ago
My naturopath put me on a neurotransmitter (which I'm intentionally not naming, seek help if you are depressed). My depression was caused by anxiety, that was caused by, evidently, something with my chemical balance. Scientifically speaking, administration of my supplement is inconclusive. Don't take natural medicines for chronic conditions unless a qualified professional is looking out for you.

cbau 9y ago

Did you ever feel like gluten was affecting you? Or was this a random change you made that happened to have a noticeable effect?

gblain23 9y ago
Definitely gluten. I've experimented with eating it, not eating it, and now have been gluten free for over 5 years since. My brother stopped eating gluten a few years after I did, and it also had a major impact on his mental and physical wellbeing.
r00fus 9y ago
Not sure for gblain, but for me I actually broke out in pimples when eating excessive wheat/bread. Under a certain limit, I just felt bad. However, I'm not sure if it's just gluten or glyphosate toxicity [1] (being concentrated in GMO wheat as that includes "roundup ready wheat" which, clearly gets more roundup on it). [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15862083 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15862083

1_player 9y ago

It's crazy, isn't it? Cutting gluten has become somewhat of a meme, but a meme repeated enough times must have some kind of truth to it. I've self diagnosed myself to a combination of depression/cyclothymia/bipolar disorder. Basically, I've been working at 50% potential, on a good day, for the past 10 years. Interested in the science behind ketogenic diets, I've tried to cut all grains and processed food for many month-long stretches, and I've always noticed my brain being sharper, and moving farther and farther away from the "black dog". But eventually I get back in the trap and it's extremely hard to pull myself up again — impossibly hard cutting grains with Italian friends and family. Keto probably isn't the solution, but I'm more and more convinced the key lies in our gut, not in our brain chemistry. EDIT: depression is a common modern "disease", and in my ignorant opinion, I'm convinced there's two types of depression: You might be depressed if your life is in the shitter, and there's no sane way of getting out of it. Think bad marriage or crippling loneliness. You might also be depressed because your chemistry isn't optimal, because of what you eat or bad health. I believe most modern depression is of the latter type, and in both cases medication treats the symptoms, not the actual cause. We need to do more work on this. Again, this is my personal opinion, and I might be talking out of my arse.

porker 9y ago

I've been gluten free for 10 months. To start with I thought it made a difference - sharper mind, not constantly bloated (and I'm not talking minor, but '8 months pregnant' bloating after any meal). The mind maybe, but the bloating and sluggishness has come back, along with the apathy, lethargy and a touch of depression. Gluten (I've tried introducing it back this last week) or no gluten, the bloating's the same and sometimes worse when avoiding gluten. Back to the drawing board, but for those reading, YMMV.

owebmaster 9y ago

> Not trying to suggest that medicine, therapy, etc. does or does not work, just that there may be some other things that people can consider and experiment with. Why not suggest this? It is so funny to see people been so skeptical about religion and always so believer in anything called science.

megaman22 9y ago

Cutting gluten probably is a net-positive, for most people, if for no other reason than it drastically reduces the amount of simple carbohydrates that you consume, and more often than not, the total number of calories consumed. Whether or not that it is actually the gluten that makes any difference, for non-celiacs, I'm less certain. I feel much better when I get closer to a ketogenic diet of eggs, meat, and green vegetables, but, again, I'm probably consuming on the order of 1000 to 1500 calories less per day when I do so.

Omnius 9y ago

1 hour hold account 1 hour old comment. I am not trying to be negative but i have seen no science to state that cutting gluten is going to do anything at all for anyone unless they have Celiac disease. You want to back that up with study or something? Its just WOO if i am wrong i will be happy to eat some crow. Further more the comment near this one about some imaginary threshold of MEME count gives something legitimacy. REALLY? WHERE AM I!!

graphitezepp 9y ago
I believe there are a few other conditions besides Celiacs which are pretty serious that make eating gluten a bad look, though less prominent.
scythe 9y ago
It's also impossible to know that you don't have celiac disease unless you've had an immunoassay that comes up negative. Not all celiac cases show severe GI symptoms. As such assuming that someone does not have celiac disease who has not been tested has a 1-2% false negative rate. Secondly, gluten can aggravate FODMAPs sensitivity: http://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085(13)00702-6/fulltext http://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085(13)00702-6/f... This study is often cited to "prove" that non-celiac gluten sensitivity does not exist, but what it actually shows is that most "NCGS" cases are caused by FODMAPs and that gluten can aggravate the symptoms in a person who has not cut out FODMAPs: >In all participants, gastrointestinal symptoms consistently and significantly improved during reduced FODMAP intake, but significantly worsened to a similar degree when their diets included gluten or whey protein. Gluten increases GI residence time in everybody, which is not an unhealthy effect on its own, but which can increase the duration of exposure to any dietary irritant: http://www.gastrojournal.org/article/0016-5085(83)90374-8/pdf http://www.gastrojournal.org/article/0016-5085(83)90374-8/pd... >Hydrolyzed gluten prolonged intestinal transit time, and this effect was reversed by concomitant administration of naloxone It's seriously that easy to just look up "gluten sensitivity" on Google Scholar or SciFinder or (insert academic search site here) to find these sort of studies. And frankly it's kind of annoying to see people who won't even go to that level of effort degrading the actual personal experiences of someone who is simply trying to improve their own life.

zamalek 9y ago

My naturopath put me on a neurotransmitter (which I'm intentionally not naming, seek help if you are depressed). My depression was caused by anxiety, that was caused by, evidently, something with my chemical balance. Scientifically speaking, administration of my supplement is inconclusive. Don't take natural medicines for chronic conditions unless a qualified professional is looking out for you.