Jens Gluten Free Blog

I just read about an astounding study about the effects of gluten. Dr. Mark Hyman writes about it in the Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/gluten-what-you-dont-know_b_379089.html). Dr. Hyman reports that according to a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association people with diagnosed celiac disease, undiagnosed celiac disease, and gluten sensitivities have a higher risk of death than the average person.

Well … the verdict is in. My endoscopy came back negative. I must admit I was a bit torn by the results. On the one hand, I was a bit relieved to find that I do not have celiac disease. A gluten-free diet is a difficult diet to maintain, and it has nutritional deficiencies as well. On the other hand, now I don’t have anything to account for my symptoms. If I don’t have celiac disease why have I developed IBS and lactose intolerance in the last six months?

I sat across from my doctor shaking my head in utter disbelief. Throughout our conversation I kept thinking about the incredible statistic I read in Peter Green’s book: as of 2006 (when the book came out) it took an average of 9 years for a person to get a celiac diagnosis. I was just beginning to understand how that could be possible.