Magazine's Article Concerning Gluten

[JodiC]

Fellow Celiacs,

I just finished reading an article in a poplular magazine. Woman's World, May 1st issue. The article is " A hidden food allergy may be making you fat..."

While any publicity this horrible disease can get is usually a good thing, this article turns Celiac into something that needs to be the next diet trend. There is absolutely no mention of why gluten is avoided, what the disease does to you, and worst of all it states that you don't even need the test to find out, just go off gluten. It also state that " the tests can only detect advanced cases of Celiac disease". WHAT???? They also state to contact this forum for more information on the diet that can help you lose "20 pounds easily"!!!

I don't know about the rest of you but I am sick of the lack of accurate information the general poplulation see on this disease. I already get comments from people, when I say I can't eat gluten due to Celiac, that show what they think about the disease. Comments like " Oh, are you trying to lose weight?" or "my so and so went on that diet". Then I am compelled to educate that person so they may be able to understand and educate someone else.

I emailed Woman's World with my opinion of their article (which wasn't a high one). I am calling on all Celiacs that read this to do the same. We need to get the truth out there and this is one way to do it. I feel that if they get a bunch of emails (there's alot of us on this forum alone) regarding this horrible article maybe something will be printed to explain more. Like the fact that we don't choose this "diet" to lose weight, we choose it to live. Chemo and certain prescription drugs can make you lose weight also but you don't see articles saying that you should do this to lose weight. This diet is our only prescription and I don't want to see it become the next hollywood get skinny trend. The book they are telling people to buy is The Gluten Connection by Shari Liebermann PhD,CNS, FACN. Imagine a doctor, that seems to have no clue, giving that kind of information.

Like I said this article mentions nothing about the disease and the health issues just how to lose weight going gluten free. How many of you have lost weight going gluten free? I know I haven't.

Here's the email address if you choose to write to them, which I hope you will.

DearWW@aol.com

God Bless

Jodi

[missy'smom]

I'm glad you brought this up. I was thinking about it but haven't read it in full. I saw it while I was checking out at the grocery store today and skimmed through it quickly. What I saw really concerned me. The teaser they put on the front cover(knowing what I know) made me think it was about gluten so I looked at the article. In addition to what you said, they had fashion shots of women who had lost weight.

[angelbender]

I will have to locate that issue of the mag. I hate it when publications take a medical diet and make it into a celebrity lose all that weight issue. I know that you probably weren't actually looking for an answer to your question but I am one of the small percentage of Celiacs that has lost weight after going gluten free. And I am still getting my sugar goodies so it's not that. Anyhow, my vote is that it

is an absolutely crappy (pun intended or not, lol) way to lose weight and I would rather have a healthy body without these medical issues and lose weight by what I call the easy and old fashioned way...... calories in/calories out and exercise than to have to be sick and try to be gluten free everywhere that I go. I suspect that I had gained the weight due to being Celiac. My body tends to run a bit backwards

sometimes. Before finding out I had Celiac, I had just thought that I had been overindulging too much. So, I will try to find that issue of Woman's World and read it and send in my email too. I used to like to read it more but now find myself picking up "Quick and Simple" more often as the recipes seem easily adaptable to gluten free.....and I just like it better. WW sometimes has the sameo sameo all the time.

Okay, I think I'm done. Have a good weekend all!..........Angel

[Fiddle-Faddle]

While any publicity this horrible disease can get is usually a good thing, this article turns Celiac into something that needs to be the next diet trend. There is absolutely no mention of why gluten is avoided, what the disease does to you, and worst of all it states that you don't even need the test to find out, just go off gluten. It also state that " the tests can only detect advanced cases of Celiac disease". WHAT???? They also state to contact this forum for more information on the diet that can help you lose "20 pounds easily"!!!

I

I'm sorry, Jodi, but while I agree with you that this is trivialized by the sensationalism and emphasis on weight loss, their info isn't THAT inaccurate. Dietary response is probably the best method of diagnosis. Biopsy is hit or miss at best, unless you do have an advanced case of celiac. Bloodwork doesn't catch all of those who are gluten-intolerant; heck, even some people who have positive biopsies had negative bloodwork. And many of us who did have positive bloodwork had idiot doctors who read the bloodwork incorrectly and told us we were fine.

Also, many of us who were overweight did FINALLY lose weight when we went off gluten. Heck, I lost 20 pounds (more than half of my "extra" weight) my first few weeks off gluten, and I was scarfing down Fritos and chocolate chips (NOT a healthy diet, I admit, but I was suffering from gluten withdrawal!).

If this article gets people to try--and stay on--the gluten-free diet, then I think it is a good thing, not a bad one, especially if the article listed this website for further information!

I would even go so far as to say that I wish I had seen an article like that a few years ago--then I might have avoided some gluten-related problems...

[mm&j]

Fellow Celiacs,

I just finished reading an article in a poplular magazine. Woman's World, May 1st issue. The article is " A hidden food allergy may be making you fat..."

While any publicity this horrible disease can get is usually a good thing, this article turns Celiac into something that needs to be the next diet trend. There is absolutely no mention of why gluten is avoided, what the disease does to you, and worst of all it states that you don't even need the test to find out, just go off gluten. It also state that " the tests can only detect advanced cases of Celiac disease". WHAT???? They also state to contact this forum for more information on the diet that can help you lose "20 pounds easily"!!!

I don't know about the rest of you but I am sick of the lack of accurate information the general poplulation see on this disease. I already get comments from people, when I say I can't eat gluten due to Celiac, that show what they think about the disease. Comments like " Oh, are you trying to lose weight?" or "my so and so went on that diet". Then I am compelled to educate that person so they may be able to understand and educate someone else.

I emailed Woman's World with my opinion of their article (which wasn't a high one). I am calling on all Celiacs that read this to do the same. We need to get the truth out there and this is one way to do it. I feel that if they get a bunch of emails (there's alot of us on this forum alone) regarding this horrible article maybe something will be printed to explain more. Like the fact that we don't choose this "diet" to lose weight, we choose it to live. Chemo and certain prescription drugs can make you lose weight also but you don't see articles saying that you should do this to lose weight. This diet is our only prescription and I don't want to see it become the next hollywood get skinny trend. The book they are telling people to buy is The Gluten Connection by Shari Liebermann PhD,CNS, FACN. Imagine a doctor, that seems to have no clue, giving that kind of information.

Like I said this article mentions nothing about the disease and the health issues just how to lose weight going gluten free. How many of you have lost weight going gluten free? I know I haven't.

Here's the email address if you choose to write to them, which I hope you will.

DearWW@aol.com

God Bless

Jodi

What really bothers me about the "trend" of people without the disease going gluten-free to lose weight is that it won't be taken as seriously when a true celiac person askes for gluten-free. Restaurants, etc. will become more careless possibly if they think people are doing it just for their looks.

[Nantzie]

What really bothers me about the "trend" of people without the disease going gluten-free to lose weight is that it won't be taken as seriously when a true celiac person askes for gluten-free. Restaurants, etc. will become more careless possibly if they think people are doing it just for their looks.

I don't mind people going gluten-free to lose weight at all. I think a lot of the 95% of undiagnosed celaics may end up figuring it out by doing something like this.

But it's the restaurants issue that concerns me too. Can you imagine what would happen if a chef went out of his way to specially prepare a gluten-free meal for someone who he thinks has celiac, and then they "cheat" at dessert and order a non-gluten-free item? The next time someone came actually having celiac they might get sick because the chef might still be irritated that his efforts were thrown back in his face like that.

I think if people who try the gluten-free diet just do what we all wish we could - take the bun off the burger and pick the croutons out of the salad, and not bother the wait staff with what is essentially a preference, it will be fine.

What I worry about on the board is people coming on here, learning about it, and then posting a "cheat brag". I was just as guilty of doing this in my pre-celiac, dieting days. - "Oh my gosh. I was so bad today. I ate a hamburger and had ordered takeout pizza for dinner. I'm so bloated." My best friend was just told she is borderline diabetic a few months ago and she does this all the dang time. Not a big fan of the "cheat brag" anymore.

But, I really think that people who are learning about the gluten-free diet to lose weight would be very respectful of our health problems and not do such a thing here.

Also, lets remember that being overweight also causes a lot of health problems and if it works for them, even if they don't think they have celiac, they should do it.

If this takes off the way Atkins did, maybe Hostess will start working on creating gluten-free Twinkies. Hey if Anheuser-Bush created gluten-free beer, maybe we have a shot.

Nancy

[Fiddle-Faddle]

What I worry about on the board is people coming on here, learning about it, and then posting a "cheat brag". I was just as guilty of doing this in my pre-celiac, dieting days. - "Oh my gosh. I was so bad today. I ate a hamburger and had ordered takeout pizza for dinner. I'm so bloated." My best friend was just told she is borderline diabetic a few months ago and she does this all the dang time. Not a big fan of the "cheat brag" anymore.

Nancy

Gee, all this time, I've been assuming that people who posted "cheat brags" were doing so in order to ask for strength, reassurance, help, etc....

Seriously--are we really at the point where we can afford to judge other people's posts when they are at their weakest????

[JodiC]

While I agree with the fact that you can lose weight on this diet. The part that was so wrong is that they made Celiac look like a "diet", a choice. This article was insensitive. If controlling Celiac was a simple as following the diet this forum would not exist. We could talk all day about the proper way to test for Celiac. I don't disagree about bloodwork being one of the ways but this dr said "it has to be in the advanced stages" and that was the only way. Do you agree with that? I believe the article could have made more reference to Celiac being a destructive disease when undiagnosed and not what they did. They turned it into a trivial trend. That is what I wrote to the magazine about. Yes, it's true that some will get a diagnosis from that magazine article, but without the vital information needed to back it up how many will convince their dr to listen to them. It's hard enough for those of us already diagnosed to get answers. You don't have to write to them if you don't want to, but I felt that this was something that deserved some attention so I wrote them. then I wrote here. Isn't that what this forum is all about? Education and support? One of the first things I said after reading the article was "I have to put this on the forum".

Jodi

[Nantzie]

Gee, all this time, I've been assuming that people who posted "cheat brags" were doing so in order to ask for strength, reassurance, help, etc....

Seriously--are we really at the point where we can afford to judge other people's posts when they are at their weakest????

That's not how I meant that at all. I'm talking about the bragging part - not the cheating.

I'm talking about when people go on a diet for weight loss and then talk about how they're eating all the stuff the diet says they shouldn't eat. Usually accompanied by lots of giggling.

Cheat brag = bragging about cheating and thinking it's funny and cute. I'm not talking about falling off the wagon or getting caught out not having food, or anything like that at all.

I would never consider someone here talking about cheating (or falling off the wagon) to be bragging. Ever. The gluten-free diet is a complicated transition and takes a lot of time to get used to, plan for, etc. And being at a party around food that looks so good and you know you'd suffer for it, but you almost can't help yourself, or CAN'T help yourself, that's not what I was saying at all.

I guess it's because I was guilty of doing what I was talking about in the days before I knew anything at all about food intolerances etc. I'd go on a diet on Monday, and by Thursday I was telling my friends how bad I had been and kind of brag about it. I didn't want help. I was bragging.

It was akin to my friends and I being 15 years old and a size 5 and saying "Oh I'm so fat." just to get someone to tell us we weren't fat. Or saying the same thing to my husband nowadays.

I don't think that anyone who takes the diet seriously and reads even a day's worth of posts here - either for celiac-related issues, or weight loss, would ever post a cheat brag.

I apologize for coming across that way.

Nancy

[Nantzie]

While I agree with the fact that you can lose weight on this diet. The part that was so wrong is that they made Celiac look like a "diet", a choice. This article was insensitive. If controlling Celiac was a simple as following the diet this forum would not exist. We could talk all day about the proper way to test for Celiac. I don't disagree about bloodwork being one of the ways but this dr said "it has to be in the advanced stages" and that was the only way. Do you agree with that? I believe the article could have made more reference to Celiac being a destructive disease when undiagnosed and not what they did. They turned it into a trivial trend. That is what I wrote to the magazine about. Yes, it's true that some will get a diagnosis from that magazine article, but without the vital information needed to back it up how many will convince their dr to listen to them. It's hard enough for those of us already diagnosed to get answers. You don't have to write to them if you don't want to, but I felt that this was something that deserved some attention so I wrote them. then I wrote here. Isn't that what this forum is all about? Education and support? One of the first things I said after reading the article was "I have to put this on the forum".

Jodi

I think it was completely irresponsible for them to mention the gluten-free diet and not explain celiac disease at the same time. I do like that they point to celiac.com and I think that will fill people in on the reality of it, but they could at least have spent a paragraph or two hitting the high points.

That does worry me too, that as uneducated as doctors are about this, this is going to make it nearly impossible for anyone to get a doctor to take them seriously. And even the people whose doctors do take them seriously are going to come back with negative blood work because they're already on the diet when they figure out that they may actually have celiac.

I am definitely going to write to them about this (going to get the magazine and read the article first before I comment to them on it). I'm all for people losing weight in whatever healthy way works for them, but yes, there are much more serious issues than weight.

Nancy

[Fiddle-Faddle]

That's not how I meant that at all. I'm talking about the bragging part - not the cheating.

I'm talking about when people go on a diet for weight loss and then talk about how they're eating all the stuff the diet says they shouldn't eat. Usually accompanied by lots of giggling.

Cheat brag = bragging about cheating and thinking it's funny and cute. I'm not talking about falling off the wagon or getting caught out not having food, or anything like that at all.

Nancy

Sorry I misunderstood you.

I have certainly seen my share of high school girls (and grown women colleagues) complain to me how fat they are when they weigh 20 pounds less than I do, but honestly, I've never seen anyone really and truly on a diet (weight loss, gluten, diabetic, or otherwise) "brag" about cheating!

[darlindeb25]

I would like to add: I have read "The Gluten Connection" by Shari Lieberman and it is an excellent book. She does a wonderful job of explaining celiac disease and she doesn't tell you to forget about the tests. What she does tell you is that if you have had tests and still feel that a gluten free diet would be best, then definitely try it out to see.

Have you actually read the book Jodi? Please don't shoot it down until you have.

[JodiC]

I wasn't shooting down the book at all. I was shooting down the lack of information the article showed. I have not read the book and would never comment on it till I did. The way she was quoted in the article was probably misleading and wrong. The article was written by Womans World not her, I realize that. Hopefully when she reads it she will feel as strongly. More people are going to read that article than the book (at this time). I just feel the right info should have been there. Hopefully someone who reads the article (who has been suffering for years) can gain some useful info from it and contact their dr. The article alone, I feel, wouldn't be a wake up call. Some will go on the diet, feel better, and believe it is only because they are losing weight, not because they may have Celiac. That is where the problem lies.

[happygirl]

just going out on a limb here, but there is evidence to suggest that people who don't have Celiac benefit, weight wise, from going gluten free. There was a study published that found that people who were having trouble losing weight benefitted from going gluten free and were able to lose weight. There is more to gluten than "just" Celiac....so hopefully, this article will be helpful to some.

Gluten/weight was reported in Men's Health, the Jan/Feb issue:

"if your belly won't budge, you may have a gluten intolerance"

the blurb goes on to talk about New Zealand researchers who worked with men who were having trouble losing weight, and put them on a gluten free diet. They began losing weight. Why? "In some people, gluten appears to cause chroinically high levels of insulin, a hormone that signals your body to store fat, report the scientists." "Within 3 months of adoptin a gluten-free diet, the study participants had also reduced thier insulin levels by 50 percent"

"Unfortunately, medical tests to determine gluten intolerance are often inconclusive. So the easiest way to find out if your'e afflicted is to elimante this grain protien from your diet for 4-6 weeks and monitor your weight and general health"

[eleep]

I'm always of the belief that accurate education and information is important -- I'm one of those "classic" celiacs who's always been too skinny (um -- except for the bloated belly, at times) and I've gotten some rather dismissive remarks from new acquaintances now that "gluten free" has hit the mainsteam. People assume I'm some kind of vain chick with an eating disorder. Education, however, is often a person-to-person process, so I try to be as patient and informative as possible in such situations.

[jkmunchkin]

I happened to notice this at the checkout counter yesterday at the supermarket and was so angry! For starters the headline reads, "the hidden food allergy that may be making you fat" (or something to that affect). That alone is inaccurate! Celiac is not an allergy, it is an intolerance. And we all know that having celiac doesn't necessarily mean you are fat or thin. I have been underweight my entire life and only now that I'm eating gluten free am coming to a normal weight. Yes there are celiacs who are overweight but it can go either way.

To be honest, by the time I noticed the article it was my turn to be rung up so I only got to scan the article but everything I read was completely inaccurate and I definately picked up on that it passes this off as the next fad diet.

Usually I am very happy to see celiac written about in a publication but this was awful.

[chrissy]

consider the source----isn't "women's world" just a higher class tabloid magazine???

[ravenwoodglass]

The thing that bothered me the most about this article was that they never said what gluten is. There was no mention of anything other than flour and baked goods. No mention of rye or barley. It was one of the most poorly written articles I have ever seen that deals with gluten intolerance.

[Lisa]

The thing that bothered me the most is that I paid money for it. I am sure that this was mentioned, but any thing that can encourage gluten free labeling or more products available, can't be a bad thing.

But on the other hand..

I constantly struggle to explain how I need my food prepared and I would not want a manager or waitress to go that extra effort because of a "fad diet", when in fact, it is a medical issue.

[NoGluGirl]

I'm sorry, Jodi, but while I agree with you that this is trivialized by the sensationalism and emphasis on weight loss, their info isn't THAT inaccurate. Dietary response is probably the best method of diagnosis. Biopsy is hit or miss at best, unless you do have an advanced case of celiac. Bloodwork doesn't catch all of those who are gluten-intolerant; heck, even some people who have positive biopsies had negative bloodwork. And many of us who did have positive bloodwork had idiot doctors who read the bloodwork incorrectly and told us we were fine.

Also, many of us who were overweight did FINALLY lose weight when we went off gluten. Heck, I lost 20 pounds (more than half of my "extra" weight) my first few weeks off gluten, and I was scarfing down Fritos and chocolate chips (NOT a healthy diet, I admit, but I was suffering from gluten withdrawal!).

If this article gets people to try--and stay on--the gluten-free diet, then I think it is a good thing, not a bad one, especially if the article listed this website for further information!

I would even go so far as to say that I wish I had seen an article like that a few years ago--then I might have avoided some gluten-related problems...

Dear Alison,

I agree with you on this! I do not feel the information was inaccurate, but they focused more on the diet and weightloss and neglected a number of things. First, the did not mention cc at all! You are not gluten free if you get a speck of the stuff in your food somehow. Also, they never mention how you should get new utensils and cookware.

So much information was left out. I do feel we need to correct a few things. They need to know Celiac is more than something that makes people fat. It makes you terribly ill!

Amen to the stupid doctors screwing up bloodwork and relying way too much on tests. My doctor says I am Celiac. My history is typical of one. I had digestive issues from birth. Not only that, but I have experienced thyroid issues and anemia as well. My gallbladder had to be removed at 20 years of age! These all coincide with Celiac. Several years ago, I have bloodwork that was incorrect. All of these years I suffered because doctors are complete idiots.

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

[JodiC]

I received a reply from WW regarding my email and they are forwarding it the editors. I requested a retraction of some sort so will have to wait and see. They admitted the email was incomplete and inaccurate and will be more through in the future.

[Nantzie]

I received a reply from WW regarding my email and they are forwarding it the editors. I requested a retraction of some sort so will have to wait and see. They admitted the email was incomplete and inaccurate and will be more through in the future.

Yay!!! That's awesome! Maybe it will prompt them to do a future, fully explanatory article in order to make up for it?

Nancy

[NoGluGirl]

I received a reply from WW regarding my email and they are forwarding it the editors. I requested a retraction of some sort so will have to wait and see. They admitted the email was incomplete and inaccurate and will be more through in the future.

Dear JodiC,

That is wonderful news! They really should correct that article. They did not mention anything about gluten not just being wheat. Barley, Oats, and Rye and all grains that need avoided as well. They are in practically everything! Keep us posted on the situation!

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

[Judyin Philly]

JodiC

Thanks for taking the time to write them

Judy

[Mtndog]

Well- I'm definitely going to read it now!