Comments on: The Gluten Wars

By: Adam Conway

Adam Conway — Fri, 31 May 2013 19:28:10 +0000

Thanks for the comment, Shoshannah, I appreciate your perspective, and you make some good points.
Modern food production often include a great number of ingredients that are difficult to interpret (at best), and as you say, many of those additives are naturally derived. If there was ever a moment to be diagnosed with Celiac, this is probably that moment, as producers are motivated by market pressure to provide that information in bright, bold lettering.
However, the target audience is unfortunately not you or others with the condition. Since the mid-1940s when it was firmly linked to wheat proteins, those with Celiac sprue have pleaded with food makers to label their products and create additional options, but their numbers are far too small to exert market pressure. Although beneficial, it’s a shame that the critical shift was caused not by or for those with the greatest stake in the issue but rather for those interested (however earnestly) in the latest foodie fad and the publishers and producers aiming for profit.
However, for you and others with this serious challenge, I am truly thrilled at the wealth of options now available!

By: Robyn Stegman

Robyn Stegman — Fri, 31 May 2013 19:21:51 +0000

You bring up a great point and I think there are actually several points in history where our dietary choices have dramatically shifted over a nutrition belief that does not precisely match up with scientific realities. Take the lipid hypothesis which made fat into the demon it is known as today. You ask anyone what they need to be heart health and they’ll tell you to cut out cholesterol and fat. Yet the science if far more complicated and the link between dietary cholesterol and saturated fats with heart disease is murky.

I think your point of being more mindful about what we eat and what’s in our food is a good one. To Shoshannah’s point when you have an allergy you learn quickly how complicated it can be. My college roommate was allergic to soy and it was really hard to find food she could eat. Vegetable oil is generally soy oil and the compound that makes cheese yellow is soy based. I would have never thought to label cheese “soy free” (unless it was that vegan ilk) until I met her.

So then how do we make the public more aware of what they are eating and less susceptible to food trends? Especially when government agencies often tend to jump on the food fad bandwagon.

By: Hasdai Westbrook

Hasdai Westbrook — Fri, 31 May 2013 18:36:55 +0000

Thanks Shoshannah. We very much appreciate you adding your perspective to the discussion. I’d be curious what resources there are out there for people who have recently been diagnosed with Celiac Disease to guide them in their dietary choices.

By: Shoshannah

Shoshannah — Fri, 31 May 2013 18:06:14 +0000

While I very much appreciate your post, and I do agree with you and applaud you for advocating ” for good, healthy food and making efforts to support your local economy,” there is one thing I’d like to address. I used to think that labeling products like hummus or orange juice as gluten free was a marketing gimmick (and perhaps it still is), I am now grateful that more companies are doing this because I was recently diagnosed with Celiac Disease. I never knew how many things had gluten in them before. I don’t eat a lot of processed foods, but I do buy some prepared things (mustard, etc.), and you’d be surprised how many of those things, including from the most “natural” and organic brands, contain gluten. Anyway, just thought I’d share how my perspective has changed.

By: Adam Conway

Adam Conway — Fri, 31 May 2013 12:54:53 +0000

To clarify what this post is and is not:
Although I am confident that a strong scientific rebuttal can be made to the wave of gluten-intolerant articles, books, and the like, since I am not a scientist, I am not the best person to make such an argument.
Instead, I would prefer to advocate for good, healthy food and making efforts to support your local economy.