9 ms·

My wife was advised to try going gluten-free for a period of time to see if it would help with a condition she had been dealing with. It didn't help with that,

My wife was advised to try going gluten-free for a period of time to see if it would help with a condition she had been dealing with. It didn't help with that, but we did discover that she lost about 10 pounds and her previously regular bloating and intestinal discomfort went away. We have since observed a fairly strong correlation between consuming regular bread and bloating. So she largely eats gluten free foods. But we don't go to overboard on gluten-replaced foods, and instead try more for food choices that just don't have gluten either way. Sure, we do have rice noodles or corn pasta sometimes, and I do have gluten-free bread in the freezer for her for occasional sandwiches, but we usually just eat more like East Asians or Mexicans and just don't have bread. It's kind of like when I was ten, I noticed that sometimes I had bad diarrhea after we had spaghetti and so after running an experiment on myself, I deduced that a certain brands of sauce made me have diarrhea, along with raw tomatoes. I also discovered the same thing with soy sauce and peanuts, and although I no longer have that same sensitivity to soy sauce and lessened to peanuts, I still avoid those foods. Basically, I think almost everyone has some sensitivity to some kind of food, most of us just don't know it. If you do have to avoid some kind of food, avoid it, don't go for a substitute.

batbomb 12y ago
This is anecdotal still unless you control for other parts of the diet, such as total carb intake, total sodium intake, and/or dietary fiber intake. When many people stop eating gluten, they often just stop eating so much bread, usually lower their total carb, sodium intake (there's tons of it in bread), and often sugar and other things as well, sometimes substantially lower. Occasionally the opposite is true if people start swapping out large amounts of glutenous products for sugary fruits. The same thing happens with MSG and chinese restaurant syndrome. People tend to think MSG itself, and not their actual sodium intake (MSG is sodium + glutamic acid), makes them feel sick. In controlled studies with equivalent sodium intake and controlling for taste (basically two gelatin pills, one with MSG and the other with an equivalent amount of sodium), there's been no correlation.
- russnewcomer 12y ago
  Totally agree that my wife going gluten free is relatively anecdotal. I didn't wish to put her through too much torture trying to run empirical tests, but I do know that there are times when she has accidentally consumed regular versions of food that she has no problems with the gluten-free version, and she has bloated. Doesn't really bloat with gluten-free. Relatively anecdotal and not the strongest causation, but definite correlation. My personal issues with spaghetti sauce however, I did control for as much as possible, purchasing enough ingredients to make multiple rounds of the rest of the meal, varying only spaghetti sauce. Basic outcome: Prego and some other local store brands from 10 years ago means diarrhea, Ragu does not. Same thing with nuts - eat peanuts, almonds, pistachios, wait an hour, diarrhea. Don't know if it's it's in my head or not, but since it happens, I try to avoid foods that make it happen.

batbomb 12y ago

This is anecdotal still unless you control for other parts of the diet, such as total carb intake, total sodium intake, and/or dietary fiber intake. When many people stop eating gluten, they often just stop eating so much bread, usually lower their total carb, sodium intake (there's tons of it in bread), and often sugar and other things as well, sometimes substantially lower. Occasionally the opposite is true if people start swapping out large amounts of glutenous products for sugary fruits. The same thing happens with MSG and chinese restaurant syndrome. People tend to think MSG itself, and not their actual sodium intake (MSG is sodium + glutamic acid), makes them feel sick. In controlled studies with equivalent sodium intake and controlling for taste (basically two gelatin pills, one with MSG and the other with an equivalent amount of sodium), there's been no correlation.

russnewcomer 12y ago
Totally agree that my wife going gluten free is relatively anecdotal. I didn't wish to put her through too much torture trying to run empirical tests, but I do know that there are times when she has accidentally consumed regular versions of food that she has no problems with the gluten-free version, and she has bloated. Doesn't really bloat with gluten-free. Relatively anecdotal and not the strongest causation, but definite correlation. My personal issues with spaghetti sauce however, I did control for as much as possible, purchasing enough ingredients to make multiple rounds of the rest of the meal, varying only spaghetti sauce. Basic outcome: Prego and some other local store brands from 10 years ago means diarrhea, Ragu does not. Same thing with nuts - eat peanuts, almonds, pistachios, wait an hour, diarrhea. Don't know if it's it's in my head or not, but since it happens, I try to avoid foods that make it happen.