How Happy Are You on a Gluten-free Diet?

I am very happy with my gluten-free lifestyle. There are no adverse side effects from a gluten-free diet. I have no desire to change my immune system by a vaccine or interfere with Zonulin in order to eat wheat. I believe that gluten damages much more than the intestinal lining and I think that gluten is not the only toxic thing about wheat - check out wheat agglutinin for one example. As far as an enzyme to break down gluten, I would consider that for eating out so my fear of cross contamination would be reduced. Currently I eat a grain free/sugar free diet and find this has further improved my health. Check out paleo or primal diet.

Good article overall, but "coeliac" is not a misspelling, and so does not deserve "[sic]". It's an alternate spelling used in Britain.

I was very strictly gluten-free for 3 years. Not because of celiac disease - I didn't have it. But I do have the DQ8 gene, and I went gluten-free hoping it would help mitigate symptoms of my other autoimmune diseases (scleroderma, thyroditis, Sjogrens).

I found the diet, expensive, and I craved wheat the entire time. I tried baking and buying all sorts of gluten free breads, and none were satisfying. All were unpalatable unless toasted. The huge majority of readymade mixes, kits and frozen foods have gluten in them, so the diet required much more time expended in from-scratch food preparation. Our local stores did not have many of the gluten-free foods, so I had to go many miles out of my way to get them. More expense and time consumed!

The diet did not seem to help my autoimmune disease at all. So finally a few months ago, I gave it up. I am so much happier now.

I am very happy with my gluten-free lifestyle. There are no adverse side effects from a gluten-free diet. I have no desire to change my immune system by a vaccine or interfere with Zonulin in order to eat wheat. I believe that gluten damages much more than the intestinal lining and I think that gluten is not the only toxic thing about wheat - check out wheat agglutinin for one example. As far as an enzyme to break down gluten, I would consider that for eating out so my fear of cross contamination would be reduced. Currently I eat a grain free/sugar free diet and find this has further improved my health. Check out paleo or primal diet.

I too am very happy with my gluten-free lifestyle. I am a much healthier eater and have no interest in putting toxic vaccines in my body. I completely agree with Anne when she states that gluten damages much more than the intestinal lining. I do take whole plant herbal supplements which has improved my state of health even further. I will never eat wheat/gluten again and I'm perfectly happy with that and better off for it.

Good report Diana! I am happy with my gluten-free diet, and have been following it strictly for about 20 years. Happiness can often be a product of attitude: sure I regret passing up on the bosses birthday cake or whatever, but I do it because I value my health more. Another aspect to satisfaction with gluten-free diet is making sure to eat a HEALTHY gluten-free diet. Replacing gluten products with gluten-free ones is a first step, then it's important to also look at food in general, and choose wisely. There are many gluten-free products that are loaded with refined grains, sugar & fat that fail to nurture good health. Being healthy makes being happy much easier. Whole fruits and vegetables are the most potent healthy choices around and they are also fortunately gluten-free.

Out of necessity I have been following the gluten free lifestyle for fifteen years. It really limits my social life. I do ok at home but I would like to be able to eat more freely when I eat out whether at restaurants or other gatherings. I would be thrilled with any improvements in the quality of my life.

I am very happy with my gluten-free lifestyle. There are no adverse side effects from a gluten-free diet. I have no desire to change my immune system by a vaccine or interfere with Zonulin in order to eat wheat. I believe that gluten damages much more than the intestinal lining and I think that gluten is not the only toxic thing about wheat - check out wheat agglutinin for one example. As far as an enzyme to break down gluten, I would consider that for eating out so my fear of cross contamination would be reduced. Currently I eat a grain free/sugar free diet and find this has further improved my health. Check out paleo or primal diet.

I agree with Anne. I am extremely happy, and feeling 100% better on a gluten-free diet. No adverse effects from taking medication, just following a diet. I would not even consider taking meds...the diet works perfectly and in no way do I feel deprived in my diet.

I agree with the comment above. I would hesitate to take a vaccine as I don't always trust the side effects of vaccinations and I also believe that gluten does more damage than we are aware of. I believe we are already genetically modifying our wheat seed and other seeds too much and that's already making us sick enough. Leave the seeds alone, or better still, go back to the original and natural wheat seed before you modified it. I do think that an enzyme to break down gluten, in the event you eat gluten by accident, would be beneficial for the celiac population, although I currently use a natural supplement on the market for such occasions. I am also on a sugar, dairy and total grain free diet and find that it is very helpful, in addition to the gluten free diet. Am I happy to do all this? I would prefer not to, however the alternatives described in the article scare me because it would require messing with systems that are very delicate (wheat seed, human endocrine) and in my opinion should not be messed with, hence my adherence to a gluten free lifestyle.

"Although more than 40% of celiac patients were unhappy with the gluten free diet, they did not use complementary or alternative medicines with more frequently than controls. This suggests that they do not view these as viable alternative treatments to a gluten free diet."

I am wondering how the researchers/author came to this conclusion.

Complementary/alternative medicines are not considered viable alternative treatments to a gluten-free diet for celiac disease, not even by complementary/alternative medical providers. In fact, those providers tend to encourage gluten-free diets even in the absence of positive standard celiac tests.

Why would any intelligent patient already diagnosed with celiac use oral supplements more than a non-celiac, BECAUSE of being unhappy with a gluten-free diet, as this article suggests? Being unhappy with expensive prepared gluten-free foods that taste like styrofoam and lack of convenience of a gluten-free diet has nothing to do with believing that oral supplements such as vitamins can reverse celiac!

I don't know if I have celiac disease - I gave up gluten (specifically wheat) as part of the endo diet. And it changed my life. After 20+ years of debilitating digestive problems, skin problems, anemia, constant fatigue, and near constant pain, I am finally healthy. Wouldn't go back to eating wheat for the world. Yes, it can be challenging. Yes, I miss a crusty loaf of fresh baked bread now and then. But the benefits so far outweigh the drawbacks, that there's point in griping. Sure it's not easy, but come on a simple (yes, simple - they even make gluten-free beer!) lifestyle change can give you your health back. Sounds like a great deal to me.

Although maintaining a gluten-free diet at home has been fairly easy and even fun since it forces me to explore other options, I travel a lot for my job and would definitely welcome any treatment that would make it easier to eat at foreign restaurants, or not be the killjoy when my colleagues want to eat at a pizza joint.

My unhappiness arises from the facts that our food supplies are so overwrought with unhealthy ingredients and preparations, making research and choices more necessary and more time-consuming. The better my adherence to my dietary standards, the happier and healthier I feel. I wouldn't trust a vaccine and I would lobby heavily for a return to heritage grains and practices that gave humans nutritious food sources. Subsidize smaller firms that provide nutritious alternatives to Big Food; CEASE subsidizing multinationals that are proliferating the GMO villains and chemical poisons that have brought us to this brink!