7 ms·

One is definitely a real condition. The other... well, there's reason to be skeptical - whether it is actually gluten or whether it is psychosomatic. I'm more t

One is definitely a real condition. The other... well, there's reason to be skeptical - whether it is actually gluten or whether it is psychosomatic. I'm more than half suspicious that most of the self-reported benefits of avoiding gluten are really benefits of also slashing carb intake.

aaronblohowiak 9y ago
Slashing carb intake’s benefits are psychosomatic? How do you figure ?
- phil21 9y ago
  It's psychosomatic in that people think it's cutting gluten that is making them feel better - when in fact it may be simply reducing carb intake that is the primary cause. It's much like how I observe folks on Atkins where it really works - but the magic isn't so much the ketosis itself - they are just unknowingly drastically reducing calorie intake. The real "body hack" of any diet is the one on the brain, imo.
  - eropple 9y ago
    I dunno about that. I've monitored calorie intake while keeping to an under-40g allotment of carbs per day. I was still eating north of 2500 calories a day (which was less, but not that much less, than before--about a 300 calorie deficit per day), working an office job, and exercising less than I should. One day a week was a cheat day, where I not only permitted myself but frankly demanded that I put all sorts of high-calorie horrible things into my face. I'd regularly end up around 4000-5000 calories every Saturday (until I stopped liking those things--also an interesting side effect). I lost fifty freaking pounds. Off Chipotle salad bowls and shawarma salads (and I was already eating those things, just...now sans rice). Ketosis does some weird stuff.
    - eclipxe 9y ago
      Don't know why you got down voted - I had the same exact experience.
    - ryanmerket 9y ago
      I’ve been seeing this for years. Started Keto off/on since 2010 and always lost weight. Never count calories. The science will catch up eventually.
  - TACIXAT 9y ago
    My brother and I are celiac. Atkins diet was how my dad found what not to eat back when going gluten free wasn't a thing. As someone who had a ton of health problems and solved them by cutting out foods, it's not in our heads. I used to starve myself because not eating is what felt best. Now I know what not to eat and feel great.
    - beaner 9y ago
      It wasn't in your heads. But I think his point is that it may be in others'.
  - erikpukinskis 9y ago
    I thought psychosomatic meant a physical change that’s caused by the mind? I think you’re just talking about false attribution.
cpuguy83 9y ago
Gluten free does not mean carb free or even carb reduced. What it does tend to mean is less processed food and more whole foods.
- stephen_g 9y ago
  Both my father and my sister are coeliac, and find a lot of packaged gluten free foods (biscuits, breads, cakes, etc) have more sugar than the normal versions to compensate for frankly generally tasting worse... Fresh food is fine, but in general people deciding to go gluten free because it's trendy and "healthy", without having done a proper elimination trial or having coeliac disease, aren't actually making a good choice.
  - ryanmerket 9y ago
    You forgot having active anti-bodies in their feces. I don’t have celiacs but I have done a fecal test and it showed sensitivity to gluten, oat, potato, and bean.
abecedarius 9y ago
Some "gluten-sensitive" people (e.g. me) will request a GF meal because it's a relatively standard checkbox choice that can be accommodated without extra overhead, unlike a FODMAP diet; it's not that we imagine we're kinda sorta celiac. And wheat does stand out among foods found to disagree with me. (By antibody test if you're going to bring up the psychosomatic. Yes, mind-body issues happen but they seem to be overused to dismiss people's experience.)
dcx 9y ago
I'm pretty much certain there is something to gluten sensitivity. Starting from when I was a teenager I used to have stomach cramps and diarrhoea about twice a week. This went on for 10+ years. Being a kid I assumed this was just a thing some people have, and never really spoke about it to anyone. The day I stopped eating bread and other large portions of gluten was the day this issue went away in full. I have since taken the blood test for celiac and it came back negative (my doctor said soy sauce in my diet should be enough to set off the test, although to be fair he was not 100% confident on this point). Any time I try reintroducing bread, egg noodles, etc., the cramps come back like clockwork. I can take unlimited rice and gluten-free bread without triggering symptoms. My suspicions are that (1) there is a sub-celiac-diagnosis level of irritation which people are experiencing and addressing by cutting out gluten, and (2) maybe many people are not comfortable being vocal about their digestive issues in public? The medical industry has a big track record of treating unknown disorders as psychosomatic and writing off sufferers until they are lucky enough to figure out that particular disease. Consider that IBS is a disease of exclusion and how poorly understood gut bacteria is right now. It's not always going to be reliable, but it is worth listening when a ton of people complain and proceed to vote with their wallets as well.

aaronblohowiak 9y ago

Slashing carb intake’s benefits are psychosomatic? How do you figure ?

phil21 9y ago
It's psychosomatic in that people think it's cutting gluten that is making them feel better - when in fact it may be simply reducing carb intake that is the primary cause. It's much like how I observe folks on Atkins where it really works - but the magic isn't so much the ketosis itself - they are just unknowingly drastically reducing calorie intake. The real "body hack" of any diet is the one on the brain, imo.
- eropple 9y ago
  I dunno about that. I've monitored calorie intake while keeping to an under-40g allotment of carbs per day. I was still eating north of 2500 calories a day (which was less, but not that much less, than before--about a 300 calorie deficit per day), working an office job, and exercising less than I should. One day a week was a cheat day, where I not only permitted myself but frankly demanded that I put all sorts of high-calorie horrible things into my face. I'd regularly end up around 4000-5000 calories every Saturday (until I stopped liking those things--also an interesting side effect). I lost fifty freaking pounds. Off Chipotle salad bowls and shawarma salads (and I was already eating those things, just...now sans rice). Ketosis does some weird stuff.
  - eclipxe 9y ago
    Don't know why you got down voted - I had the same exact experience.
  - ryanmerket 9y ago
    I’ve been seeing this for years. Started Keto off/on since 2010 and always lost weight. Never count calories. The science will catch up eventually.
- TACIXAT 9y ago
  My brother and I are celiac. Atkins diet was how my dad found what not to eat back when going gluten free wasn't a thing. As someone who had a ton of health problems and solved them by cutting out foods, it's not in our heads. I used to starve myself because not eating is what felt best. Now I know what not to eat and feel great.
  - beaner 9y ago
    It wasn't in your heads. But I think his point is that it may be in others'.
- erikpukinskis 9y ago
  I thought psychosomatic meant a physical change that’s caused by the mind? I think you’re just talking about false attribution.

cpuguy83 9y ago

Gluten free does not mean carb free or even carb reduced. What it does tend to mean is less processed food and more whole foods.

stephen_g 9y ago
Both my father and my sister are coeliac, and find a lot of packaged gluten free foods (biscuits, breads, cakes, etc) have more sugar than the normal versions to compensate for frankly generally tasting worse... Fresh food is fine, but in general people deciding to go gluten free because it's trendy and "healthy", without having done a proper elimination trial or having coeliac disease, aren't actually making a good choice.
- ryanmerket 9y ago
  You forgot having active anti-bodies in their feces. I don’t have celiacs but I have done a fecal test and it showed sensitivity to gluten, oat, potato, and bean.

abecedarius 9y ago

Some "gluten-sensitive" people (e.g. me) will request a GF meal because it's a relatively standard checkbox choice that can be accommodated without extra overhead, unlike a FODMAP diet; it's not that we imagine we're kinda sorta celiac. And wheat does stand out among foods found to disagree with me. (By antibody test if you're going to bring up the psychosomatic. Yes, mind-body issues happen but they seem to be overused to dismiss people's experience.)

dcx 9y ago

I'm pretty much certain there is something to gluten sensitivity. Starting from when I was a teenager I used to have stomach cramps and diarrhoea about twice a week. This went on for 10+ years. Being a kid I assumed this was just a thing some people have, and never really spoke about it to anyone. The day I stopped eating bread and other large portions of gluten was the day this issue went away in full. I have since taken the blood test for celiac and it came back negative (my doctor said soy sauce in my diet should be enough to set off the test, although to be fair he was not 100% confident on this point). Any time I try reintroducing bread, egg noodles, etc., the cramps come back like clockwork. I can take unlimited rice and gluten-free bread without triggering symptoms. My suspicions are that (1) there is a sub-celiac-diagnosis level of irritation which people are experiencing and addressing by cutting out gluten, and (2) maybe many people are not comfortable being vocal about their digestive issues in public? The medical industry has a big track record of treating unknown disorders as psychosomatic and writing off sufferers until they are lucky enough to figure out that particular disease. Consider that IBS is a disease of exclusion and how poorly understood gut bacteria is right now. It's not always going to be reliable, but it is worth listening when a ton of people complain and proceed to vote with their wallets as well.