Why Should You Decide to Try a Gluten Free Diet?

The gluten free diet has had a recent surge in popularity especially due to high profile Celiacs such as Elizabeth Hasselback, media reports, and the proliferation of gluten free foods in mainstream markets. So what's all the fuss about? Why in the world would anyone want to try something so restrictive leaving out a myriad of typical comfort foods such as pizza, breads, cold cereals, etc. Why would anyone want to spend a small fortune for basic food staples?

The truth is that unfortunately for many people, not just people with celiac disease, gluten can produce harmful health problems of which are hidden to many individuals and their doctors. It doesn't simply cause issues with digestion and nutritional deficiencies as is mistakenly thought by some health professionals. It is linked to conditions as diverse as mental health problems, skin conditions, auto-immune diseases, asthma, and a lot more. Since mainstream western medicine's goals are to treat symptoms and not find root causes of ailments, there are many individuals needlessly suffering with chronic health conditions resigned to taking drugs to 'manage' their conditions.

The savvy individual who is proactive about their particular health concerns will research their problem and not just accept a prescription and go on their merry way. They will constantly be on the lookout for dietary and lifestyle changes that can improve their condition.

This would describe myself and my life since I was 17 years old. It all began with a book at the local health food store which gave opened the door to taking the reigns of my own health management.

I had been dealing with chronic fatigue off and on for many years. It had become the new normal for me. One day as I was looking up some dietary information online, I came across someone who mentioned that eating wheat made her sleepy constantly and when she cut it out, the problem ceased. When I read that, I immediately wondered if a gluten free diet would help me. At any given moment in the day, I felt like crawling in my bed and staying there. I was so desperate to actually feel awake and function normally.

I decided to take the gluten free diet plunge and cut out all the gluten I could from my diet. After three weeks of maddening withdrawal symptoms, I emerged from that cloud with no more sleepiness. In addition to normalized energy levels, I easily dropped a stubborn 30 pounds over subsequent months that no amount of calorie cutting and exercise would budge.

As I adopted my new gluten free lifestyle, I began to do more research into gluten and health related problems. I read books like Dangerous Grains: Why Gluten Cereal Grains May Be Hazardous To Your Health and Healthier Without Wheat: A New Understanding of Wheat Allergies, Celiac Disease, and Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance. These books opened my eyes to the possibilities that so many others could be suffering out there and have no idea that a simple dietary staple could be the root cause of their debilitating health problems.

Perhaps you are suffering with some sort of chronic health condition that is related to gluten. Unfortunately, many people brainwashed by public health policy including the "food pyramid" are in denial that such a supposedly healthy cornerstone of the Standard American Diet (i.e. wheat) could be the cause of their ailments. One must not be afraid to research and do a little experimentation to find out the truth.