John Malki
Gluten free?
In the course of my research, I had a test done that revealed I had a slight sensitivity to gluten. I didn't have any adverse symptoms, so I can't tell if it was a significant issue. But I did the gluten-free thing for a while, since the test indicated an issue. But then as I researched the subject, I came to the following conclusions.
1. I am not convinced there is anything wrong with gluten. The problem is WHITE FLOUR. Virtually all "wheat" products, such as bread, are made with white flour, which is the carbohydrate portion of the grain kernel, without its bran hull and germ. And this is true even for brown-ish breads deceptively labeled "whole wheat;" they are a MIXTURE of whole grain flour and white flour, mostly the latter. But those removed parts are where most of the essential fiber and nutrients are. So the result of consuming popular wheat products is an unhealthy LOW-FIBER diet. Fiber is what feeds the essential bacteria in the intestines, and what keeps the intestinal lining healthy. Gluten, the protein in wheat, is never supposed to permeate the intestinal lining and enter the bloodstream. If it does, it is perceived by the immune system as a pathogen, and an immune or allergic reaction ensues. But in a healthy intestinal environment (due to high fiber diet), dietary gluten cannot penetrate the intestinal lining, but instead is broken down into its component amino acids, which are normal nutrition absorbed into the bloodstream, with no negative reaction. So the fundamental problem is not gluten (or wheat) itself, but a malfunctioning digestive system caused by too little dietary fiber.
So after a while being on a high-fiber diet, I figured my intestinal lining was healed and my intestinal microbiome restored, so I quit the gluten-free thing, making sure to avoid WHITE FLOUR, using only WHOLE GRAINS, wheat included. I have not been tested since, but I'm convinced there is no problem.
2. The reason why people may feel better or otherwise get good results from being on a gluten-free diet is not only because it eliminates gluten as an irritant, but because they are no longer consuming popular WHITE FLOUR, so their relative dietary fiber proportion increases, which helps heal the intestinal lining and restore the microbiome. Furthermore, since white flour is pure carbohydrate that breaks down readily into sugar, the diet results in reducing spikes in blood sugar, which is another health-promoting benefit. But once the gluten-free diet repairs the intestines, and the immune sensitivity fades, a HIGH FIBER diet that does not exclude WHOLE GRAIN wheat would probably be fine. It's fundamentally about the FIBER, not the gluten.
3. Check the ingredient labels and you'll notice white flour is called "enriched flour." This is because the government, in its flaming ignorance, mandates that when food producers strip wheat of its thousands of nutrients in removing its bran and germ, they must add in a few arbitrary vitamins and minerals, so we can all blissfully pretend this destructive process is actually constructive. But those supplemental nutrients are UTTERLY WORTHLESS at best, and toxic at worst. Most importantly, the IRON supplement in "enriched" flour is carcinogenic. That's another story, but the point is, the artificially added "nutrients" are part of the problem, not a solution.