# So non-Celiac gluten sensitivity is not a thing after all & is basically garden variety hypochrondia **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 27, 2016, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-non-celiac-gluten-sensitivity-is-not-a-thing-after-all-is-basically-garden-variety-hypochrondia/744396 "2016-01-27T18:59:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-non-celiac-gluten-sensitivity-is-not-a-thing-after-all-is-basically-garden-variety-hypochrondia/744396/41 "2016-01-29T02:46:08Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Some people are legitimately sick, and can’t find out what’s wrong with them. If you have non-specific digestive problems, they scope you and don’t find a smoking gun, you start trying shit. Saying “some people are desperate for attention” may be true, but there are a lot of people who are desperate to find something, anything, that makes them not feel like shit all the time. This. After watching my wife waste away to almost nothing (~80 lbs) on two separate occasions, unable to eat for six months both times, fed [TPN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parenteral_nutrition) via a [PICC line](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Blausen_0193_Catheter_PICC.png) into her heart from a backpack she carried around everywhere, and the specialists still can’t figure it out. Her gastro specialist simply said that she had avoided gluten so long that the tests for celiac disease would not show anything, but in order for the test to be useful she would need to start eating gluten again. He said that her diet seems to be working for her, so it may be better to let sleeping dogs lie. And I’m fine with that. She has been eating normally since 2013 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-non-celiac-gluten-sensitivity-is-not-a-thing-after-all-is-basically-garden-variety-hypochrondia/744396/42 "2016-01-29T04:44:28Z")
Whelp. The OP’s study predates another study that appears to have found the cause of non-celiac gluten sensitivity so… > **[A Protein In The Gut May Explain Why Some Can't Stomach Gluten](https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/12/09/459061317/a-protein-in-the-gut-may-explain-why-some-cant-stomach-gluten)** > > Some people who don't have celiac disease say they feel better on a gluten-free diet. Researchers have long been puzzled as to why. A study suggests it could be because of a protein called zonulin. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-non-celiac-gluten-sensitivity-is-not-a-thing-after-all-is-basically-garden-variety-hypochrondia/744396/43 "2016-01-29T06:35:03Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Not sure I follow your logic. Salt is nothing more than sodium and chlorine…both deadly poisons. Oh don’t worry… if you eat sodum, the explosion in your mouth will kill you before you have time to get poisoned. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-non-celiac-gluten-sensitivity-is-not-a-thing-after-all-is-basically-garden-variety-hypochrondia/744396/44 "2016-01-29T08:31:41Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Oh don’t worry… if you eat sodum, the explosion in your mouth will kill you before you have time to get poisoned. Never mind what happens when it hits your stomach…😃 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-non-celiac-gluten-sensitivity-is-not-a-thing-after-all-is-basically-garden-variety-hypochrondia/744396/45 "2016-01-29T08:57:21Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I used to sit next to a gluten-free whack-a-doodle. She threw the word “toxins” around all the time, obviously having no idea what the word means. She declared bread was poison. She yelled at her mother-in-law for giving her son a banana because “it’s full of sugar!!!” > > Ignoring her daily lectures to others became a major part of my routine. She never spoke to me - maybe she picked up on my opinion of her. She was nuts! You should have told her you had a nut allergy… ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-non-celiac-gluten-sensitivity-is-not-a-thing-after-all-is-basically-garden-variety-hypochrondia/744396/46 "2016-01-29T09:58:05Z")
Although the widespread avoidance of gluten is an insult to science, unlike say, the anti-vax crowd, the benefits have been good. Now Celiacs have a wide variety of gluten free products to choose from. So hypochondriacs, keep it up! ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-non-celiac-gluten-sensitivity-is-not-a-thing-after-all-is-basically-garden-variety-hypochrondia/744396/47 "2016-01-29T13:34:49Z")
> [@iljitsch](#): > > What about all the people who eat/drink tons of aspartame and can see just fine? Somehow that part always gets overlooked in these impromptu n=1 studies. Yeah; based on that n=1 study, not only should I be blind, but my eyeballs should have withered and fallen out of my head. Years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Soulcatcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Soulcatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soulcatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-non-celiac-gluten-sensitivity-is-not-a-thing-after-all-is-basically-garden-variety-hypochrondia/744396/48 "2016-01-31T00:29:19Z")
My wife considers herself non-celiac gluten intolerant, and had been eating gluten free for over 7 years. Not a fad for her, she hates to do it, and is well educated and works in medical field. She did take a test for celiac that came up negative, but going off gluten correlated with solving pretty significant gastro intestinal issues, especially severe acid reflux she used to be medicated for. Also, possibly coincidental, after years of infertility and failed treatment of that, after going off gluten she managed to produce two kids. There are more tests she could take for celiac or gluten sensitivity, but they require eating gluten. So we just make it work. We do still find the fad anti-gluten dieters very annoying, and often see the only reduce their gluten intake. My wife sometimes tells people she is celiac to avoid the associations. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-non-celiac-gluten-sensitivity-is-not-a-thing-after-all-is-basically-garden-variety-hypochrondia/744396/49 "2016-01-31T04:18:55Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > There is the idea that people aren’t sensitive to the gluten, but instead to the long chain carbs in bread and other stuff (including cabbage and asparagus - basically the foods that make people gassy). > > [FODMAP - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FODMAP) Uh oh. Is this in any way related to Celiac, though? My mother had Celiac diagnosed by biopsy, and while I don’t have as bad reactions to anything as she does gluten, the lists of what foods aren’t problematic are pretty close to what doesn’t cause me any discomfort. I’m curious because a minor skin condition I have has a risk factor of close relatives with psoriasis which I do have, so clearly some conditions are similar enough to pop up like that. But anyway, I like the gluten-free nutters. They certainly make it easier for Mom to eat the things they’ve created a market for. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-non-celiac-gluten-sensitivity-is-not-a-thing-after-all-is-basically-garden-variety-hypochrondia/744396/50 "2016-01-31T09:31:35Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > There is the idea that people aren’t sensitive to the gluten, but instead to the long chain carbs in bread and other stuff (including cabbage and asparagus - basically the foods that make people gassy). > > [FODMAP - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FODMAP) > > As someone who does get incredibly gassy if I eat too much bread - or pretty much anything else on this list, it may be in my head, but I’m really unpleasant to be around when I’m crampy, cranky, and gassy. I agree. My husband puts himself on limited carbs and limited dairy every so often because of his IBD. The IBD immediately calms down. If he cheats even a little bit the IBD returns with full force. It’s not pretty. Ideally, IMO, he should be on a lifelong limited carb/dairy diet. He’d never be able to sustain it over the long term, though. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-non-celiac-gluten-sensitivity-is-not-a-thing-after-all-is-basically-garden-variety-hypochrondia/744396/51 "2016-01-31T11:23:05Z")
Yesterday I saw one of the most ridiculous “gluten-free” labels yet - on a bottle of shampoo! Because you sure don’t want to get gluten in your hair!!! After seeing that, my husband decided that when he has his next engineering design review meeting, he’ll include a slide saying his electronics tray is gluten free. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-non-celiac-gluten-sensitivity-is-not-a-thing-after-all-is-basically-garden-variety-hypochrondia/744396/52 "2016-01-31T11:51:12Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Yesterday I saw one of the most ridiculous “gluten-free” labels yet - on a bottle of shampoo! Because you sure don’t want to get gluten in your hair!!! Damn right you don’t, if you have celiac. Especially if you’re a kid, and likely to swallow some of the rinse water or put your hands in your mouth after handling the shampoo, or get residue from your hair on the hands. I don’t understand why gluten free shampoo gets so much derision. Gluten is quite commonly in shampoo. • Triticum vulgare (wheat) • Hordeum vulgare (barley) • Secale cereale (rye) • Avena sativa (oats) • Wheat germ oil • Hydrolyzed wheat protein • Stearyl dimonium hydroxypropy (hydrolyzed wheat protein) • Laurdimonium hydroxypropyl (hydrolyzed wheat protein) • Colloidal oatmeal • Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (may contain wheat) • Dextrin palmitate (starch, possibly gluten-based) • Vitamin E (frequently derived from wheat) • Malt extract (usually barley) • Beta glucan (frequently derived from wheat) • Vegetable protein (may contain wheat, barley, rye and/or oats) [http://www.morroccomethod.com/blog/gluten-free-should-people-with-celiac-disease-use-gluten-free-shampoo/](http://www.morroccomethod.com/blog/gluten-free-should-people-with-celiac-disease-use-gluten-free-shampoo/) ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-non-celiac-gluten-sensitivity-is-not-a-thing-after-all-is-basically-garden-variety-hypochrondia/744396/53 "2016-01-31T14:15:45Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Uh oh. Is this in any way related to Celiac, though? My mother had Celiac diagnosed by biopsy, and while I don’t have as bad reactions to anything as she does gluten, the lists of what foods aren’t problematic are pretty close to what doesn’t cause me any discomfort. I’m curious because a minor skin condition I have has a risk factor of close relatives with psoriasis which I do have, so clearly some conditions are similar enough to pop up like that. > > But anyway, I like the gluten-free nutters. They certainly make it easier for Mom to eat the things they’ve created a market for. Nope, and it doesn’t address the headaches, skin issues, other things people blame on gluten. It addresses the IBS/IBD/gassiness issues people with non-celiac wheat sensitivity experience. i.e. most people know beans as the musical fruit - cabbage causes gas as well. Most people know that some foods make them gassy - or if not them, they know not to sit next to Uncle Al after he eats sauerkraut. For some people, wheat is on that list. (On the other hand, the body is all interconnected, and as someone who suffers from serious headaches, a night spent in gastrointestinal distress instead of comfortable sleep might be the trigger for the headache.) What I don’t get is why anyone cares what someone else eats or doesn’t eat. If I think that I feel better not eating wheat, how does that have any affect on your life? Now, I agree that cooking for someone who brings their dietary issues into your home in confrontational or rude manner is annoying, been there done that - but that isn’t the diet, its the person. Most people I know with dietary restrictions (whether its gluten or kosher or vegan) do a pretty good job of taking care of themselves in a polite manner (I’m vegetarian, should I bring my own dish to share?). ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-non-celiac-gluten-sensitivity-is-not-a-thing-after-all-is-basically-garden-variety-hypochrondia/744396/54 "2016-01-31T14:46:17Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > You know what, I don’t really care if people avoid gluten because they think it makes them feel better. They are lucky, there’s about a gazillion gluten-free products out now. > > What pisses me off is when they try to tell _you_. “Do you know what gluten does to you? It’s poison!” (actual quote) It doesn’t do anything to me so please bring me more and stop lecturing me with your ignorant inanities. I know someone whose child is a holy terror, and the more out of control she gets, the more food the mother eliminates from the child’s diet, because she thinks food = behavior. It couldn’t possibly be because the mother never disciplines or sets limits for the kid. Nope. Must be gluten. The poor kid can’t eat sugar (but she can eat honey, which just shows how ignorant the mother is), dairy, gluten, peanuts, and a couple of other things. The mother also believes in homeopathy. I predict this kid is going to learn to smuggle Ding-Dongs by age 9, and become extremely skilled at getting all the forbidden foods with the mother none the wiser by age 12 (the kid is actually pretty bright). Having this underground railroad in place with make it very easy for her to use it for drugs when she’s in high school, if she so chooses. > [@slash2k](#): > > I knew a woman who started having trouble with her eyesight; it got so bad she met the criteria for legally blind. Her doctors couldn’t find any reason, but one of them finally suggested she cut out the four to six diet sodas she drank every day. She went cold turkey, and she got her eyesight back. > > Since the original blindness was idiopathic, it’s difficult to prove that stopping consumption of aspartame was what cured her, but the timing is certainly suggestive. She and her parents are pretty vocal in being anti-aspartame, and I really can’t blame them. Here’s an alternate theory, just to show how much it might not be the aspartame (I am not claiming this is true, just making an example of an alternate theory): soda (cola, anyway) can interfere with vitamin absorption, and someone eating a diet that is marginal to begin with, then consuming that much cola can end up with a vitamin deficiency. A combination of A and thiamine deficiency could result in the kind of vision loss you describe, but it would be fixable if it hadn’t gone on too long. If this was a teenager, well, they are notorious for bad diets, and it’s also possible she wasn’t eating enough on purpose because she was trying to lose weight, and was deliberately filling up on diet soda to keep from feeling hungry. I have no knowledge of the situation, and this could be totally wrong, but it’s more likely, IMO, than “Aspartame is evil!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-non-celiac-gluten-sensitivity-is-not-a-thing-after-all-is-basically-garden-variety-hypochrondia/744396.md?page=2)