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Cassidy Means
Gluten Free Synthesis Paper

If you ask anybody on the street what gluten is, they wouldll probably probably tell you
its a type of bread that their cousin is allergic to. Their cousin probably isn't allergic (spoiler
alert, the allergy isnt the issue) to gluten (nor is it gluten). Whether or not that little tidbit is
correct,true, there is a lot of correct information out there about gluten and the people it
plaguesabout issues within the gluten free community. People just see the words gluten free
plastered on everything from chai tea to pasta and think that gluten is the newest diet enemy.
This is a fortunate age, ein which every study and article on any given topic is in the pocket of
any random person. Between the ignorance, fearterror, and celebrity influence around the simple
threetwo-syllable term, its very easy to become engulfed in the trend. However, there may is be
some legitimacy to the movement, but people the dieters are searching for the evil in all the
wrong places.
Most people (including the ones on the gluten-free diet) (such as myself) dont know
what gluten is, and to understand why it is bad, one must understand what it is, or in better
terms, what they are. Gluten, as the simplest definition, is the common name for the two proteins
that feed the germination process in grains: gliadin and glutenin (Celiac Disease Foundation).
These are the two evil monstersthe wretched creatures that wreak havoc upon the innocent small
intestines of todays youthsociety. Depending who youre talking tothe extent of ones
intolerance, that havoc may be either as catastrophic as forgetting to study for a final exam, or as
inconvenient as forgetting to plug in your phone.
If somebody without any kind of gluten sensitivity ate pizza, theirhis or her body would
process it normally. The small intestines would break the gluten down into peptide chainsThe

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peptide chains in the gluten would be processed normally by the small intestines, and pass
through the body as if nothing ever happened (Kremer). In a person with Cceliac disease,
however, those chains would trigger an autoimmune response, causing microbes to attack and
inflame the villi (small finger-like microorganisms attached to the organ wall) in the small
intestines (Kremer). The body, in a way, treats the gluten like poison. This turns a night out on
the town into a night stuck in the bathroom.
In the case of anybody who claims to be gluten intolerantThere are many people on the
gluten free diet who claim to be gluten ,intolerant; however, there is no exact way to measure out
this nuisance the extent (or existence) of their intolerance (Greger). This nuisance can range from
a little bit of irritation to near Cceliac discomfort. Due to the lack of physical biomarkers of nonCceliac gluten intolerance,intolerance (NCGI for short), it is near impossible to actually pinpoint
who is intolerantsick, and who is lying. However, this does not give anybody the right to call out
those who claim to be afflicted by NCGI. In 2012, a study in Italy used 920 patients who were
self diagnosed to be gluten intolerant gluten intolerant to test how true their claims were
(Greger). The researchers gave treated half of those participatinge with subjects wheat pills,, and
the other half with placebo pills (to be the control group) filled with powder. . More than twothirds of the patients failed by either having improved symptoms on the wheat pill or
worsening symptoms on the placebo. However, there were many patients who reacted violently
to the wheat pillwho had violent reactions to the wheat pills, yet had there were no biomarkers in
their system for Cceliac. Multiple more studies have had similar results. ThereforeThis research
means that it is safe to say that the majority of gluten intolerant people people are not being
truthfuldont truly feel the effects of gluten, but there is a real issue out there that causes people
to become sick.

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Now thatNow that we have ruled out why those who cannot digest glutenpeople who
cannot ingest gluten have been discussed, lets take a look at why some people may either lie or
follow the diet for any other reason.it is time to talk about those who eat a gluten free diet
because they think its healthier. According to Google, the search for gluten free started to pick
up speed numbers in 2011. Coincidentally, this is around the same time that major celebrities
such as Kourtney Kardashian, Miley Cyrus, and Gwyneth Paltrow (who released her first gluten
free cookbook that year (Hays)) all became a part of the gluten free movementrevealed that
themselves and their families follow the gluten free diet. On an interesting note, Paltrow released
her first gluten free cookbook that year (Hays). They all claim to be some type of gluten
intolerance, or they have an allergy to the protein. Most of the time, this doesnt quite add up.
Miley Cyrus, who claims to have an allergy, tweeted on January third of 2013 .........@CarlsJr is
a gluten night for me!........ Later that month on the twenty-fourth she posted to Twitter:
....Because.... Because gluten is poisoning me. Your stomach has a brain too and it hates SHIT
food. Somebody with as large as a following as Cyrus easily portrays theCyrus is a huge
celebrity with an extremely large following, and her behavior presents the confusing message
that the protein can kill you, but its still okay to splurge every now and then. Now ifIf gluten
causesd her mild discomfort, its plausible that she would indulge in a burger every now and
then. However, her demeanor attitude in the latter tweet is so ragefulfull of rage and angry anger
that its it can be assumed that eating gluten would causes her so much pain and discomfort that
it kills her. Based on this, I find it is very hard to believe that she is actually afflicted by
somethingan allergy. It is find it offensive wrong on many levels to pretend that you get sick on
something that causes real people so much pain. One would not pretend to be diabetic if he or
she decided to cut down on sugar. You People cant cheat on a disease, only a diet. This is a

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big reason of why people are so skeptical of somebody who says that they truly have issues with
gluten.
The gluten free movement is a very powerful source of money. For those with real
problemsho are actually afflicted with the disease, it can come down to a difficult choice of
eating something that will not hurt you or buying more than a few items at the grocery store can
happen weekly. In 2014, Americans spent approximately $7seven billion dollars on gluten free
foods (CBS News). These foods dont have to be this expensive, especially when the bulk of the
expense comes from the gluten free label. By the simple laws of economics, shouldnt the
price of something decrease as the demand increases?Nobody expects a diabetic to spend an
outrageous amount of money on sugar free foods. However, this industry is expected to increase
by $4four billion dollars by 2017 (CBS News). This leads me to believeis evidence that the
gluten free industry is more interested in profits than making gluten free foods more accessible;
those who truly cannot eat gluten should not have to endure that.
The food companies arent the only ones filling their pockets from the sudden increase in
gluten free dieters. Something that can be noticed while searchingIf somebody were to search the
term gluten free diet benefits , they would find many sources that either pushes the reader to
try the diet or completely disregard the diet. The interesting fact of the matter is thatis that many
websites that try to convince you of the perks of the diet are often trying to sell their own
personal products; this makes it difficult to find a reliable source on the topic. Take Paleo Leap,
for example; this site has a large list composed of all of the different traumas that gluten causes
that can result from eating gluten. This website proposes that even for those with no intolerance,
gluten causes the intestines to become more permeable, (known as leaky gut syndrome), making
somebody more susceptible to infections and diseases; this can cause one to be more susceptible

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to infections and diseases. The anonymous author even says that gluten can cause eczema. To
anybody nonchalantly looking up gluten to see what the fuss is all about, the list can seem
terrifying. It may even terrify them enough to purchase the 30 Day Gluten Weight Loss
Program for thirty-five dollars that is listed at the end of the article. But why should somebody
trust an anonymous author with no credibility? The website has too many inconsistencies to be
trust worthy, but there are many sites exactly like it.
Now lets take a look at a website with a real author who is not trying to sell you
anything. Authority Nutrition portrays itself as being An evidence based approached to food
(This is the actual tagline on the websites banner). This is the actual tagline on the websites
banner; Tthis website also includes input from a real doctor, Kris Gunnar. Now on his piece
article about the gluten free lifestyle, he does mention things that Paleo Leap does, such as leaky
gut syndrome . HeHe claimssays that to those with Cceliac disease, leaky gut is a legitimate
concern; however,, but for those not affected by gluten, in those who are healthy there is no
reason to worry. That website had no pop-up ads, no products they were selling, or anything of
the sorts. This goes to show that the term gluten free has a price to it, and industries such as
those involved in the paleo movement are riding its coat tails to the end.
To see how people felt about the gluten free trend, I searched my Facebook page to see
how my friends thought. This is when I stumbled upon a game changer that I had originally
missed.A search on Facebook can reveal an article It was an article titled Is Gluten the Real
Culprit? Is it Really RoundUp? What the Heck is a FODMAP? on a website called Eat Local
Grown. At first, it doesnt seem like a reliable source (there was no author, and the website had
very little credibility),. but it contains valuable information that can be further researched. This
website mostly focused on the idea that RoundUp (an herbicide) was the real cause catalyst of

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the gluten free blossom.Their. Their logic was that humans have been eating gluten for hundred
of years, so why is it just now becoming an issue. However, RoundUp has been used since the
1970s, and modern medicine medicine has grown dramatically, making it much easier to detect
Celiac diseaseis much better at detecting celiac now. Not to mention that gluten free didnt
become popular until 2011. It seemed like a load of bologna to me, there was no author, and the
website had very little credibility. The articles other point was that gluten was not the real issue,
but rather something called a FODMAP. Due to the little credibility of the website, it was
ignored for weeks. I was disappointed that I had wasted time, so I left it alone for weeks. Little
did I know that the article held some valuable information.
In a scholarly article by Steffen Husby and Joseph Murray, the term FODMAP popped up
once again. A FODMAP in the science world, is a is the acronym fermentable oligo-di
monosaccharides and polyols, and it is classified as a short-chain carbohydrate (Eat Local
Grown). This article didnt doesnt focus on FODMAPS, but it did does bring me tomention
another study conducted in Australia (LaForest), where they the researchers at Monash
didUniversity conducted a double-blind placebo-controlled food challenge comparing those who
only cut gluten from their diet, and those who maintained a very low FODMAP level diet. They
then switched the two groups diets around to compare the resultso compare the results, they
switched the two groups medication. In an interesting twist, tThe results found that the people
who only cut gluten and still ingested FODMAPs (such as the lactose in dairy), for example, still
drank milk, felt the same type of discomfort they felt while on gluten. This brings up an entire
new approach to the gluten free argument. his study opens a brand new door for the gluten free
discussion

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Gluten isnt the only food item affected by FODMAPS isnt the only nutrients that falls
under the FODMAP category, other molecules food types that fall under the umbrella includes
dairy, fructose, fructan, and polyols (LaForest). Many times, FODMAPS are associated with
irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS, and a low FODMAP diet is often prescribed as a remedy
(About IBS). If somebody were to look up the symptoms, one may find that their gluten
allergy and FODMAP symptoms are eerily similar). For example, my mom cant drink milk
without getting sick, the same thing affects my aunt and grandfather, but none were diagnosed as
being lactose intolerant. After doing this research, I believe that the FODMAPs in the lactose
causes bulk of the problems. These hydrocarbons can affect people in different ways;
FODMAPs can S cause water to be drawn into the small intestines and often causes diarrhea.
They also become fermented by microorganisms that live in the gut, causing gasIn addition, the
FODMAPs also become fermented in the gut by microorganisms, causing gas (About IBS). Its
very plausible that FODMAPS are the true culprit here, and people are only eliminating one of
them. Perhaps this is why the people in the Italian study still had symptoms while on the
placebo. If this is the case for all people, its likely that FODMAPs are the reason that people in
the Italian study failed; they were still ingesting FODMAPS in the form of dairy or fruit, causing
the same discomfort they felt when eating gluten. .
Remember the cousin who was allergic to gluten in the very beginning of this paper who
claimed to be allergic to gluten? They probably arent allergic to gluten,gluten; they probably
have IBS and are just sensitive to FODMAPS. After all of this research, I believe thatone can
conclude that there are two categories of gluten-plagued people: Cceliac afflicted individuals,
and those who arent plagued by gluten but think they are. Now those who dont have
Celiacarent can can easily be divided into those affected by IBS and FODMAPS, and those who

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saw that gluten makes you fat and thinks that gluten must be bad. However, I did goMany people
go into this research expecting to debunk everybodys claims on gluten; . I thought I that was
going to find magnificent sources on why gluten is great and why gluten-free people are wrong
will appear on every search engine. Somehow, I actually ended up learning that gluten really
wasnt the issue at all, and that there is something to back it up there is much evidence to back up
those who feel ill after eating gluten. Many people are very quick to judge on the topic, and the
fad dieters out there are undermining the legitimacy of the real suffers. There are people cutting
down on sugar, but that doesnt automatically make those with diabetes or pre-diabetics fakers.
So while there the world will always be thosehold who lie about their gluten intolerance, some
will speak the truth. hold the truth, and that is what matters. The world of modern medicine is
always growing, and maybe someday there will be clearer research, but as of right now, I believe
the FODMAPS are the real source of the issue.

Works Cited
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<http://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-gluten-free-diet-how-much-will-it-cost/>.
Cordain, Loren. "What to Eat on the Paleo Diet." The Paleo Diet. nd. Web. 23 Sep 2016.
<http://thepaleodiet.com/what-to-eat-on-the-paleo-diet/>
Cyrus, Miley. (MileyCyrus). "helllllll no! @CarlsJr is a gluten night for me. There ain't nothing
like a Western Burger! Hot daaaayummm!" 3 Jan 2013. 9:20. Tweet.
Cyrus, Miley. (MileyCyrus). "Let me clarify "shit" wasn't meaning "fat" I mean sick. Because
gluten is poisoning me. Your stomach has a brain too & it hates SHIT food." 24 Jan 2013.
9:20. Tweet.

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Effects of FODMAPS on the Gut- Fluid Changes and Protection of Intestines." About IBS. 14
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