A child in the 70/80s, I can remember all of about three kids I went to school with through the years that had major allergies or health issues. This come up in conversation recently with more than one friend and it seems I am not alone in this memory. So if we were healthy kids with no allergies or health issues, why are we giving birth to a generation of children with peanut allergies, milk allergies, egg allergies, wheat allergies and a host of health issues? Why does nearly anyone I know, especially if parenting a boy, have experience with reactive airway disease with their young children?
What if the very food we are eating could be to blame? What if by simply changing your diet, you might be able to pack away the nebulizer for good? What if modern food science has shortchanged us and genetically modified foods have genetically modified our children? Yes, that is a bit of an extreme conclusion, but I was pleased to read an article in a mainstream publication about the possibility of rising rates of gluten sensitivity.
Although much remains unknown, it is clear that gluten—a staple of human diets for 10,000 years—triggers an immune response like an enemy invader in some modern humans.
A new study in the journal BMC Medicine may shed some light on why. It shows gluten can set off a distinct reaction in the intestines and the immune system, even in people who don't have celiac disease.
"For the first time, we have scientific evidence that indeed, gluten sensitivity not only exists, but is very different from celiac disease," says lead author Alessio Fasano, medical director of the University of Maryland's Center for Celiac Research.
I highly recommend reading "Clues to Gluten Sensitivity" over at the Wall Street Journal website. Recently, Matt has recommended to more than one patient that removing wheat and/or dairy from their diet, might just be the answer to lingering health problems that have not been solved by modern medicine. The feedback he has had from patients seems to align exactly with the article. The experience of our family with our elimination diet this past three weeks has turned us into a healthier family nearly overnight.
I have so much more that I want to research and write about on this topic, but for now I ask you to read this article and consider if you or your children might benefit from a gluten free trial. What do you have to loose? This coming from someone who has been suffering with chronic congestion and sinus infections for most of the last decade. Even with seasonal allergies causing much havoc right now, I have not been able to breathe like this in years! Literally the congestion would be so bad some mornings that I felt I was suffocating. I don't know yet if it is dairy, gluten, corn or soy contributing to my issues, but without a doubt I am 99.9% improved since we began our elimination diet.
I fought going nuclear with our diet because it seemed too hard in an era of modern food conveniences. Now I regret not doing it years earlier! It likely would have spared my children much agony had we done it long ago.
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