Would You Take Medical Advice from a Lawyer?

Recently an attorney in the field of packing, including food packaging, was chastising clients for ‘falling for the gluten craze’. While he correctly noted that 1% or about 3 million people in the US suffer from celiac disease and an additional 40 million likely suffer from gluten sensitivity, he then left the ‘factual’ arena and started disseminating fiction.

This is the comment that found me enraged: “… big swaths of the public are off and running on a gluten-free tear, seeking to avoid gluten when there is no medical need to do so.” Let’s look at why he got it so wrong.

Do You “Medically Need” To Avoid Gluten?

If we as a country correctly and efficiently diagnosed 100% (heck – I’d settle for 85%) of those suffering from celiac disease and gluten sensitivity as a regular occurrence, perhaps the above statement would have some validity. But currently waiting for ‘medical need’ to determine if you need to avoid gluten will yield you the following consequences:

1. An incorrect diagnosis – only 5% of the celiacs in this country ever get diagnosed!

2. The need to see more than 5 to 7 doctors before receiving a diagnosis – if you’re lucky enough to fall in the 5% group.

3. A wait of 10 years before receiving a diagnosis – once again only if you’re lucky enough to actually receive one. 95% of those suffering are not so lucky and if you factor in the estimated 40 million suffering from gluten sensitivity, they’re lucky if 1 or 2% of them ever receive a diagnosis.

So I heartily disagree with the attorney’s statement based on facts, not my opinion.

Is Gluten an “F” Word?

His bias continues when he deems “gluten-free” to be an “f word” – “Fad”. The definition of “fad” is An intense and widely shared enthusiasm for something, especially one that is short-lived; a craze.

The facts are that easily 15% of our population suffers from gluten intolerance: 1 to 4% (the incidence quadruples with age) with celiac disease and 10+% with gluten sensitivity. Are these tens of millions of people “crazed” as the definition would suggest? Are they imagining the genetic response their body has to gluten, treating it as if it were a toxin? Of course not!

Are You Being Negatively Influenced by Peer Pressure?

Gluten intolerance is very real. Individuals who make such irresponsible statements with no basis, in fact, should be corrected – hence the purpose of this post. But these words are not just directed at this misguided attorney. They are also addressed at the coworkers, friends, and family of those who suffer from gluten intolerance. It is unfortunate, but peer pressure can exert dangerous repercussions, way beyond schoolyard days – meaning adults are susceptible as well as children. We’d like to think that we would stick to what is right for us regardless of our environment. Unfortunately, all too often we have patients slipping up and eating gluten as a result of peer pressure.

In hindsight, these adults are embarrassed by their actions, but in the heat of the moment when someone is offering some delectable gluten item, rationality can sometimes take a back seat.

My advice is to keep reading the truth about gluten intolerance. You are more likely to develop an autoimmune disease (3rd leading cause of death) and die early of all causes if you don’t follow your diet. That’s what research tells us. So don’t cheat and please send me any articles you run into that make you wonder or doubt if what you’re doing is correct. I’m happy to find any flaws or inaccuracies in them.