The Gluten Dilemma: Good or Gastric Disaster?

Everyone these days seems to be going gluten-free. Big grocery store chains are even riding the wave and rolling out their own brand of gluten-free goods. Is this just another health trend or is there substance behind this dietary shift?
The answer is both.
In order to explore this dilemma, you’ll need to know what gluten is, where it can be found, and how to tell if it’s working for you or against you. Ready to dive in?
Defining Gluten
Everyone talks about gluten, but what is it? According to the Oxford English Dictionary,

Gluten (noun) – a substance [a mixture of two proteins] present in cereal grains, especially wheat, that is responsible for the elastic texture of dough.
Origin: via French from Latin, literally ‘glue’

Gluten is the glue that binds everything together. It dough its elasticity, helps it rise and keep its shape, and gives it a chewy texture. We’ve all made dough ball with slices of Wonderbread. That’s gluten at work.
Where You Can Find It
There’s an easy way to remember what grains have gluten in them. They are the BROWS grains, (think eye brows).
Barley
Rye
Oats*
Wheat
Spelt
*Oats do not naturally contain gluten in them, but are often processed in facilities that also process gluten grains. This is very important for those who are allergic to gluten or have Celiac disease (an allergy is different than an intolerance).
Any product that is made with these grains will also contain gluten. This includes common dietary staples such as pasta, bread, and cookies. Gluten can also be found hiding in unlikely places such as energy bars, soups, scrambled eggs, and mashed potatoes. If you’re eliminating gluten from your diet, make sure to ask at restaurants if there’s gluten in their dishes, and be familiar with the sneaky sources the wait staff might not think of.
People have been eating wheat for thousands of years, so why is it all of a sudden becoming an issue? The wheat we eat now is a very different type of wheat that our ancestors ate. According to Dr. Frank Lipman, “American strains of wheat have a much higher gluten content (which is needed to make light, fluffy Wonder Bread and giant bagels) than those traditionally found in Europe.”
Could this be the reason gluten intolerance and celiac disease are on the rise, or is there something else going on? New studies have also shown that Celiac disease may have popped up as a side effect of recent genetic adaptations in humans. That brings it to another level all together.
The combination of increased gluten content in modern wheat, genetic adaptations, and an overuse of gluten grains in processed foods means major gluten overload for the body. Why is that important?
How to Tell if Gluten is Working For or Against You
When it comes to “the gluten dilemma,” there is a spectrum of disease, ranging from mild gluten sensitivity (most common) to full-blown celiac disease (less frequent).
Some suggest that Celiac disease occurs in almost 1% of all Americans. When it comes to gluten sensitivity—or where some form of immune reaction occurs to gluten—the numbers may be as high as 1 in 3 Americans. Could this be why so many people who go off gluten no longer feel an overall sense of unwellness?
Unfortunately, if you get a blood test for celiac, gluten sensitivity doesn’t show up on it. It may not show up on a test, but it can still affect you with physical, mental and emotional symptoms.
Although the majority of the damage occurs in the digestive tract, especially the small intestines, the symptoms manifest in many different ways throughout the entire body.
Here are some signs that you may be suffering from gluten sensitivity or Celiac disease:

Digestive issues such as gas, bloating, diarrhea, acid reflux and constipation
Fatigue, brain fog or feeling tired after eating a meal that contains gluten
Diagnosis of an autoimmune disease such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, ulcerative colitis, lupus, multiple sclerosis or scleroderma
Migraine headaches
Reproductive health issues such as abnormal menstrual cycles and infertility
Swelling and inflammation
Skin problems such as acne and rosacea
Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)

Like many health trends, there are those who will simply give it a go just to say they’ve tried it. For many people, including myself, going off gluten may actually be the key to healing unresolved health issues and living a better life.
When I stopped eating gluten, so many of my seemly random and unconnected health issues slowly starting resolving. Within a few months of going off gluten completely, I no longer had cystic acne (a 10 year battle), red cheeks, digestive issues (too many to name), or hypoglycemia. I was stunned, overjoyed, and totally bummed out at the same time.
Why would I be upset about resolving so many health issues?
It meant that I could no longer continue to eat unconsciously. I now understood what was causing my symptoms, and could no longer pretend otherwise. I had to and wanted to take responsibility for my health, yet felt completely overwhelmed. This was before the flood of gluten-free products on the market.
To cut gluten from your life is no small feat. It’s in everything. Some of your all-time favorite foods probably contain it. You will need to approach food in a completely new way.
This is a blessing and a challenge.
A blessing in that you get to re-evaluate what’s gong into your body and become more aware of how your food affects you. A challenge in that going out to restaurants, over to friend’s houses for dinner, or grabbing a meal on the road can become complicated.
Luckily, food producers are quick on the uptake and are coming out with gluten-free products that taste good and have a pleasant texture. If you’ve ever had a loaf (aka brick) of rice bread, you know what I mean. You can now enjoy fluffy buckwheat and chia bread, corn and quinoa pasta, rice crackers and almond meal cookies.
Before you go on a gluten-free shopping spree resembling the “Shop Till You Drop” TV show from the 1990s—cart overflowing with items frantically snatched from every possible shelf—gluten-free doesn’t automatically equal healthy.
Lots of gluten-free processed foods contain high amounts of sugar, preservative, and other unhealthy ingredients. In your excitement to explore the world of “gluten or no gluten,” don’t forget to read the labels and incorporate plenty of whole, non-gluten grains in your diet.
If you decide to explore how gluten makes you feel, know that there are plenty of resources out there to help you along the way. Ultimately, the goal is to find the foods that make you feel healthy, strong, vibrant and alive.
Don’t take my word for it. Use your body as a walking laboratory experiment and see for yourself if gluten is in fact a good or gastric disaster.