Posted on 07/06/2014 8:45:50 AM PDT by Kaslin
It all started while we were on vacation and watched a video on the Daily Caller from the Jimmy Kimmel show. Jimmy likes to continue a tradition of the “Man on the Street” interviews started by the original late night guy – Steve Allen. This time Jimmy was on a mission to show that anti-gluten is fueled mainly by ignorance. Four saps were lured into telling the world that they would never let gluten touch their lips or enter their body. Then when asked to describe what gluten is they were left on the clown pile of life helplessly babbling.
Personally, I was a naysayer on the subject of gluten as the California crazies hopped on the bandwagon of the mania. That was until my endocrinologist told me that avoiding gluten would help me control my blood sugar level while I was losing weight which aided my avoiding diabetes. Mr. Kimmel sent me to the internet to research the subject to avoid the pratfalls of other health-crazed Californians.
What I found was that gluten is a protein found in grains – particularly wheat, rye and barley. Gluten causes dough to rise and gives it a chewy texture. It is true that some people have intolerance to gluten, but it is not an allergy – it is just an intolerance. That is estimated to be one person out of every 133. Here is where the fun starts – there has never (yes, never) been a study that has shown that avoiding gluten for the other 132 people without an intolerance has any beneficial effect. But don’t try to convince the crazed people who have sworn off gluten as if it were a deadly poison.
Then I found out that corn, rice, and potatoes have no gluten. Being the cynical person I am, it occurs to me who might be behind this entire fad. Certainly there is no science behind it, but there sure is plenty of push to avoid gluten. Could it be corn, rice, and potato growers have banded together to convince the American public to eat their product and avoid those other foods? No that would never happen – would it? We never been told something was good for us and then later experienced an Emily Litella (Gilda Radner) moment – Never Mind.
Then I read about Peter Gibson, a professor from Melbourne, Australia, who did a study in 2011 that found gluten intolerance is a genuine condition. The study was widely accepted and accelerated the concern about gluten launching an increase of 50 percent in the sale of gluten-free products in the United States. However, Gibson did not have the “settled science” lobby breathing down his neck and redid his testing. He discovered that the reactions found in the first tests were not actually related to gluten. As stated in the article in Real Clear Science, “The rise in non-celiac gluten sensitivity seems predominantly driven by consumers and commercial interests, not quality scientific research.”
Concurrent with the world realizing that gluten-mania was driven by both false science and irrational exuberance, we have found out that the entire basis of our diet has been founded on bad science. The original research was done by a man named Ancel Keys and then accepted unflinchingly by the establishment that embraces these issues, like the American Heart Association, Centers for Disease Control and the Agriculture Dept. Some have questioned Keys’ work over the past 50 years, but we have been told that the consumption of animal fat in our diet was too high and we needed to avoid it. It has become “settled science.”
Then the Annals of Internal Medicine actually did an extensive study and found out animal fat is not the leading cause for heart disease, diabetes and obesity. So butter that corn and down that steak because that is not what is causing heart disease. Just do it in moderation.
Now the entire food world has turned over the essence of what is a good diet except – the American Heart Association (AHA). For good fun we read a column in that radical, right-wing publication—The Daily Beast – telling of the AHA’s refusal to alter their guidelines regarding consumption of saturated fats. Wow, nothing more amusing than seeing the left go after the left. But the doctor who wrote the column blamed “commercial interests.” Excuse me! The AHA is part of the left-of-center, East Coast intelligentsia. Don’t try and hang this one on us – the Republicans. We still eat our meat and baby backs. We didn’t fall for all this malarkey. But accepting blame for their errors has never been a big feature of the left – (note their blame of GWB for the last decade).
The reality is that food fads are food fads, science is never settled, and eating a well-balanced diet which includes fruits, vegetables, grains, meats, and yes some fats, will keep you in good stead unless you indulge in gluttony. Also, what you eat is your choice and if you want to die with a cheeseburger hanging from your lips God bless you. But watching the left genuflect to the latest food fad or any other unscientific craze is always great entertainment.
So this 4th of July weekend eat those hot dogs and burgers and enjoy yourself with reckless abandon while you celebrate your freedom from the food police.
Re Gluten:
My son was hospitalized for over a month attempting to find the source of his severe illness...lost so much weight I was afraid we’d loose him. Everything that went in his mouth came out the other end like a running faucet.
They did one test after another all coming back negative. Finally a specialist was called in her guessed what the problem was....then examined and tested. Sure enough Gluten was the cause.
If my son even takes a nibble of something with Gluten in it his skin breaks out with oozing rashes.....not to mention his digestive system gets wacked real good. So he has to stay away from it.
The added benefit is he is noticeably healthier looking now then he’s been in years and says he’s never felt better.
In Europe ‘every newborn’ is tested for Gluten....primarily because it’s European in origin and affects mostly those of European descent.
...”People with celiac disease have to swear off gluten”...
You got that right. As mentioned my son has it. Frustrating for him at times when he veers just a little....like eating corn chips. He always pays a heavy price when he eats anything with Gluten in it. Even has to be careful at eating out because though they may have Gluten free on the Menu’s it isn’t always served as that.
....”I’ll have a little something focused on protein”....
Well I have a Protein Drink every day along with a Multi-Vitamin/Mineral. If I go without that Protein drink I want to eat everything sweet I can get my hands on!
I worked as a firefighter for 25 years and in that time I saw many of my co-workers go on high protein diets to lose weight. Most of them did lose weight for a time on the diets. Many of them got sick... a few got really sick. The one thing that virtually all of them have in common is that all of them gained the weight back and them some.
So I am sorry to have offended you, but poor nutritional advice hurts people... and telling people that as a general rule everyone should avoid carbohydrates is poor nutritional advice. It is generally accepted that from 45% to 65% of a healthy diet should come from carbohydrates.
For me protein focus means eggs. I don’t do any of the drinks or vitamins or any of that. And yeah I want to eat every sweet thing in the world, because they taste good.
Poor advice?
I am capable of assessing options, evaluating my own experience and deciding on a course of action. Your choice of words us patronizing. I am not a victim.
Is patronizing
Celiac for 10 plus years.
You’re the one with the whiney 6 year olds retort on the line of “same to you but what am I”.
When you find a similar group who caterwaul about their “road rights (or others)” by clogging up an entire downtown one or two days a month, and get their OWN lanes paid for by others which they can’t subsequently ride INSIDE OF, you get back to us...
Thanks... but he cooks for himself at his place when he has to.
He pretty much knows the agenda for foods...and where to get them. Fortunately he manages a fine dining restaurant and eats his meals for the most part right there...and as directed. Otherwise he prepares various rice and meat dishes...very much a meat and potato guy now!
Thanks for the follow up ME.
Personally, the only negative effect I associate with wheat is getting stuffed up sinus wise if I drink wheat heavy beers. Seeings as their are plenty of other good healthy alcoholic (One of the 4 food groups dontcha know!) beverages, I can work around it. :-)
We are talking about straight starch and sugar, not vegetables.
Meats, fish, eggs and vegetables are good for you. Junk food and pop are not. I certainly never mentioned or discussed a fad diet supplement.
He really can’t eat either of those....his skin breaks out something awful and ends up with bad cramping.
He was diagnosed just a couple years ago...couple emergency visits to the ER and determined he had a bug....that didn’t go away after two weeks... so they admitted him for over a month... He was a real mess and in pain. Lost way too much weight....All those folical thingys went completely flat....you can imagine the shape he was in.
How old were you when they diagnosed?
I felt horrible for 2 weeks of no gluten like I was sick or something and the whole family did too. It was weird. Then after that time we felt good again and several of us had issues cleared up, eczema going away on one, stomach nausea on another, the headaches etc. Not everyone seemed different but I think sometimes gluten could have more of a cumulative bad effect over a lifetime. I can understand why someone wouldn’t want to cut out gluten because of that though.
They do make gluten-free beer now. I haven’t tried one yet, though. Yes, wine, scotch whiskey, champagne, tequila etc, all distilled alcohols, are gluten-free. So, there is still a lot there.
The comment that I was responding to, written by Morphing Libertarian was, “avoiding carbs is a good thing for most people no matter in what form they come.”
Morphing Libertarian did not specify that he/she was, “talking about straight starch and sugar, not vegetables.” I am glad that you are able to recognize that, “Meats, fish, eggs and vegetables are good for you. Junk food and pop are not.” I would add that whole grains, nuts, fruits, poultry, and other types of foods and beverages can also be important to a balanced diet. I have no idea what type of nutritional advice that you have been advocating.
I am sorry to have been patronizing... my intention was to point out that your belief that, “avoiding carbs is a good thing for most people no matter in what form they come” is bad nutritional advice. I am sorry that my assumption was that you picked up this belief through the media and not some other means.
don’t agree, and no one can avoid all carbs. You might have missed the word vegetables in my earlier posts.
Please try to save someone else.
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Gastroenerlogist (sic?) told me to stop daily. Stomach upsets lessened.
I stopped gluten on my own and felt even greater results.
I'll give up dairy and gluten if it means I don't need to be medicated just to feel comfortable.
So, I am one of the 133!
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