The FastDay Forum

Interesting reading
I think someone here has already mentioned that there is a difference between gluten intolerance and Coeliac disease
People with coeliac are unable to eat gluten at all and even a small taste will result in severe symptoms .miffy have you been tested?
However ,I agree intolerance to gluten seems to be increasing
I find I can have a small amount each day but if I eat a bit more i get bloating and cramps,I don't have coeliac disease
Google fodmaps,it will explain better than I can
I also find ,when I am in Europe I can tolerate much more pasta and bread and I never had this problem when I was younger so I do think its a lot to with other additives

I went zero carbs for a while (Protein Power) and when I started to eat bread again I found my sinuses became blocked. I think I'd had a problem with wheat before but my body was used to it to a certain extent. When I had a complete break from it and then went back it my body's true reaction came out.

Yeah, I still occasionally have wheat but it has to be extra special for me to eat it, knowing I'll feel shitty an hour or two later.

Sarah, indeed coeliac and gluten intolerant are different. My friend who eats bread in Greece but not in Athens is coeliac. I also had a friend who claimed to be gluten intolerant and ate all sorts of gluten containing stuff here in Greece. I am pretty sure though that she thought she was gluten intolerant and she wasn't. She just didn't eat it at all (in the UK)...
Since these are phenomena of the modern times, perhaps even the specialists are a bit confused when it comes to diagnosing. The very interesting part of all this is that such allergies are unknown to countries who don't do much of industrial bread. Greece, for example. Up to 2-3 years ago, there were zero gluten-free products here and now that there are, they can be found only in areas where tourists go. I've been told that you won't find a single gluten-intolerant person outside the big cities. No kidding! You won't find flour with additives outside the big cities either!

It would surely be an easy experiment to compare people eating real bread against mass-produced stuff for a couple of weeks, then crossover after a recovery period. I wonder if this has been done anywhere? Carorees? PhilT? I very much doubt the additives theory but suspect the way the grain is processed and the timescales involved might make a difference - sourdough seems to be better tolerated...

Actually wheat from different parts of the world being different does make sense. I wish I could remember where I read the article but the gist of it was the current mass produced wheat flour in the U.S. has been genetically modified (to resist pests and increased yield) and is made up of 4 different (and here is the word I'm not sure of) chromosomes or something. Well, they found some wheat frozen in Iceland or somewhere like that from thousands of years ago and on comparison it only had 2 compared to the 4. It is being tested to see if Celiacs can tolerate it compared to our highly modified wheat. There are a few products available using it but it is very expensive. I believe it is called "ancient wheat".

A quick search yielded this article which explains it pretty good and definitely expalins, all wheat is not the same.
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-prob ... z2eSCm2F2g

I for one would welcome it back into my diet and cooking, so keeping my fingers crossed.

GoLinda, modern dwarf high-yield wheat (the stuff we mostly eat) has more non-wheat chromosomes in it than wheat chromosomes!

The grains in 'normal' wheat evolved to drop away from the plant for propagation. Modern dwarf high-yield wheat does not have this ability. It's been changed so much that it's really wheat anymore.

Hello all

I'm one of those who isn't celiac but i'm definately intolerent to wheat. I seem to be ok with other types of gluten, however as I don't eat any wheat containing products other types of gluten aren't really in huge quantities!

I tested negative for celiac disease 4 times. But i'm sure there's other factors at play in this intolerance game. After doing some reading I know that the testing for celiac is only testing for one specific protein (or something involved in the disease) but doesn't mean that you can go munching on anything in site because the test is negative (from my experience)

After visiting a nutritionist and getting various other tests I was advised to cut out wheat. And after 6 weeks wheat free most of my symptoms had gone. Now after a year or so wheat free, if I accidently eat something the symptoms are 100x worse.

In my opinion in the UK and probably Europe and USA too a lot of our meals revolve around wheat and gluten, toast for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, dumplings, stuffings etc, pasta, for dinner.

I don't think our bodies were designed to cope with that sort of volume, when our ancestors mainly ate fruit, veg and meat.

However, i know some people can cope better with older wheats such as spelt and other grains, i know that I cannot.

I don't know if I could eat spelt or some of these other "celiac friendly" grains, but from the symptoms if it goes wrong I won't be first in line to experiment.

Additionally I know a few true celiacs, who's symptoms don't seem to be severe as mine when they accidently eat gluten. So all I can assume is that everyone's body has different reactions and you just need to work out what's right for you.

The same way that people can't eat tomatoes, onions, aubergines, or anything else.

But this is such a hot topic right now, and the more that can be done to highlight that the better. I certainly could do with going to more places where there are wheat free options that don't involve paying the same price and removing half the meal!

The thing with gluten is ,if you cut it out completely for awhile you may have a reaction when you eat even a small amount .this was told to me by a medical doctor.i have found I feel best if I eat very little wheat or gluten but don't cut it out altogether.

I've experienced exactly the same. If I have a gluten free diet and then eat the smallest amount of gluten I get really ill. So now I've eased it back and eat only small amounts of organic spelt sourdoughbread or similar relatively healthy choices.