Propaganda Alert: NY Post - The city’s new psychosis: Gluten!

Cyre2067

The Living Force
Friend posted this on my wall, below is the article and my comments.

The city’s new psychosis: Gluten!
Attack of the killer bread loaves! More New Yorkers than ever are running scared from wheat -- but are their fears founded?

By SHEILA McCLEAR and CARLA SPARTOS

It’s a Saturday afternoon at Tu-Lu’s Gluten Free Bakery in the East Village, and a steady stream of customers is flowing through the small pink-and-white shop. Most are fashionably dressed women in their 20s and 30s who pause to admire a vast array of baked goods -- from pumpkin cupcakes made with a blend of rice, tapioca and potato flour to loaves of wheat-free, whole-grain sunflower bread.

“I was one of [its] first customers,” says Brystal Rosensweig, 21, a student who started visiting the shop when it opened in 2010 and has been gluten-free for 3 1/2 years.

“So I [went gluten-free] before it was popular!” she adds with a laugh.

Gluten-free diets are certainly on the rise -- and as a result, the gluten-free market has exploded. Research firm Packaged Facts estimated the gluten-free packaged food industry market at $2.6 billion in 2010.

SORTING THE WHEAT FROM THE CHAFF

In NYC, there are now gluten-free grocery stores (G-Free NYC), gluten-free beer (offered by Heartland Brewery) and lots of “g-free” menu options. The 2012 Zagat NYC Restaurant Guide, released today, even features a gluten-free category for the first time ever, listing eateries such as Upper East Side Italian spot Lumi and wheat-free West Village restaurant Risotteria.

For the roughly 1 percent of the population that suffers from celiac disease -- an autoimmune disorder triggered by gluten, the protein found in wheat, barley and rye grains, as well as many processed foods -- the surge in gluten-free options is a blessing. If you have a wheat allergy, you also avoid gluten.

But an increasing number of New Yorkers who don’t have a medical excuse to ditch gluten are also declaring it public enemy No. 1. These days, you can’t throw a bread roll without hitting someone who has cut gluten out of their diet for health or diet reasons. “It’s a major issue,” says Zagat Survey co-chair Nina Zagat, who introduced the gluten-free category in her guidebook because of consumer demand and a recent burst in online commentary. “I’ve heard anecdotally that some people are eating gluten-free because they think it may be healthier in general.”

Risotteria has been baking gluten-free offerings for 11 out of its 12 years -- but only recently has seen a surge in demand. “It was celiac people coming in [at first]. It was definitely a medical issue at the beginning,” says owner and chef Joseph Pace.

“Now I think it’s more of a style issue,” he laughs.

“But I think it’s better for you, and I think people are catching on to that. I feel better -- I don’t eat much bread at all.”

Celebrities who have helped popularize the gluten-free lifestyle include health-conscious “New Girl” star Zooey Deschanel, Gwyneth Paltrow (who went gluten-free to shed holiday pounds) and Wimbledon tennis champ Novak Djokovic, who went on a gluten-free diet this year and got three Grand Slam wins. Chelsea Clinton even served a gluten-free cake at her wedding last year.

“I was constantly tired, and my doctor said I should try gluten-free,” explains Rosensweig, who hasn’t been tested for celiac disease or a wheat allergy. “It’s made me feel all-around healthier. I think that most people are sensitive to it and just don’t realize it.”

But is wheat -- which humans have been eating for millennia -- actually unhealthy? A decade ago, hardly anybody even knew what gluten was.

“There’s a health halo going on around gluten-free right now, which means that people hear ‘gluten-free’ and automatically assume it’s healthy,” says Karen Ansel, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. “Word of mouth and nutrition misinformation have made this into a huge trend.

“There’s no health benefit in cutting out gluten unless you’ve been diagnosed with celiac or an allergy,” continues Ansel. “It’s actually very difficult to get all of the nutrients you need with a strict gluten-free diet.”

That's a straight up lie. Gluten is autoimmunogenic, and while people have been eating it for thousands of years, we didn't evolve to digest it. We're animal eaters due to our environment of evolutionary adaptation, and wheat-eating only came along with agriculture, approximately 10k years ago.

She points out that wheat flour is usually enriched with vitamins, but g-free alternatives, such as rice flour, are not. Other risks of following the diet include a lack of fiber and, in the case of prepared gluten-free food, too much fat and cholesterol.

If you’re free and clear, “go ahead and eat all the gluten you want,” Ansel says. “It’s not going to hurt you.”

“Wheat was domesticated 10,000 years ago,” adds Dr. Peter HR Green, director of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University. “By far the bulk of people don’t have any deleterious effects.”

Some people can eat wheat without a problem, or at least without one that they're associating with wheat. Mood disorders, skin problems, and a whole host of other random metabolic problems are associated with wheat intolerance, and beyond that - the article doesn't even mention it's correlation with obesity, belly-fat, heart disease, epilepsy and childhood behavioral problems - these are all associations made in legitimate scientific research.

And the g-free craze may even hurt true celiac sufferers.

“If food providers or servers think it’s a trendy thing, the upside is increased availability [of gluten-free food] -- the downside is reducing the significance of having celiac disease,” says Green.

Some people in the New York food community believe the g-free craze is a collective panic attack over nothing. Former executive banquet chef Damian Cardone of now-shuttered Tavern on the Green ignited a scandal last year, when he lashed out against gluten-free diners on Facebook, where he copped to serving self-proclaimed “gluten-free” customers plain old pasta. The allergy was all in their “disturbed little heads,” he ranted. “Flour and bread have been a staple of life for thousands, THOUSANDS of years.”

And yet, hundreds of New Yorkers are prepared to ignore history, claiming gluten leads to all manner of ailments, including headaches, muscle pain, skin problems, mood disturbances and general sluggishness.

Another Tu-Lu customer, Erica Benjamin, 37, has a “self-diagnosed” wheat sensitivity. “It’s by choice, not by a doctor,” she says of her diet, which she’s followed for nine years.

In her wheat-eating days, “I never really felt well; I would get migraines. I did a lot of reading and research, and when I cut flour out of my diet, I felt a hundred times better.”

Some proponents of the diet claim that everyone can benefit from going gluten-free. Diagnosed with celiac disease two years ago, actress Jennifer Esposito is launching a Web site next week called Jennifer’s Way to educate people about a “gluten-free lifestyle for all.”

“My goal in life now is to really make people aware that gluten is really not good for anybody -- it really is an enormous problem,” Esposito recently told the food blog Grub Street. But according to the Celiac Disease Center’s Green, “There’s no evidence for that at all.”

“The bottom line is if you think you have celiac, a wheat allergy or non-celiac gluten sensitivity, you should see a doctor,” adds Ansel. “There’s definitely a place for a gluten-free diet, just not for everyone.

And while the article makes the point that people have been eating wheat for 'thousands of years' it does nothing to mention the genetic alteration of wheat - which likely makes it more immunogenic - and has only occured in the last two decades or so.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the post is putting out the pro-gluten propaganda, but I thought it had to be addressed nonetheless.
 
Yeah, the same old bunk. There's no evidence that gluten is bad generally, huh? Well, there's a heck of a lot more evidence for that, than the bogus claims that cholesterol and saturated fats are bad. And there's just as much evidence as how generally bad gluten is that saturated fats and cholesterol are absolutely essential for health.

But as you said, what else can we expect from the mainstream propaganda peddlers?
 
Imo, I don't think that most dieticians, like allopathic doctors, don't really care one way or the other about their patients or clients. They all went to medical school/university not to be REAL doctors or
dieticians, but to make a lot of money.
To paraphrase Dr. Mercola, we all have to take responsibility for our own health, and the best way to do that is to research, research, then research some more.
:cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool:

:cool2: :cool2: :cool2: :cool2:
 
I caught up with an old mate on Monday who I hadn't seen in a couple of years - pretty much since I've changed my diet. There was some free food happening, but I told him that I wasn't going to partake because I don't eat gluten anymore. He immediately felt sorry for me, sympthasing about allergies and whatnot. I made the mistake of telling him it was purely by choice that I do not eat gluten. I explained that I had done a great deal of research on the matter and discovered that gluten is not good for anyone. He disputed this, responding that you can find written information to support any ideas if you look hard enough. Now, I have to admit that there is definitely truth to this statement, but it was what he said next that really wound me up inside.

He insisted that the only reason I had seen a change in my health was because I believe gluten is bad. He said that if he made the same changes, he wouldn't notice anything because he didn't believe.

I just thought I would share this experience because, as I say, it rather got to me. I happy to say that I didn't get defensive or anything though, I just allowed the subject to be dropped and let him stick to his illusions.

Wow though! So now gluten-free improvement is faith orientated in the mainstream? :jawdrop:
 
Well the way I see it, it's the General Law acting via Big Agri and the propaganda machine- we wouldn't want all the people thinking clearly once their bodies and minds are freed form the shackles of gluten. Imagine that!!
 
Wisteria said:
I caught up with an old mate on Monday who I hadn't seen in a couple of years - pretty much since I've changed my diet. There was some free food happening, but I told him that I wasn't going to partake because I don't eat gluten anymore. He immediately felt sorry for me, sympthasing about allergies and whatnot. I made the mistake of telling him it was purely by choice that I do not eat gluten. I explained that I had done a great deal of research on the matter and discovered that gluten is not good for anyone. He disputed this, responding that you can find written information to support any ideas if you look hard enough. Now, I have to admit that there is definitely truth to this statement, but it was what he said next that really wound me up inside.

He insisted that the only reason I had seen a change in my health was because I believe gluten is bad. He said that if he made the same changes, he wouldn't notice anything because he didn't believe.

I just thought I would share this experience because, as I say, it rather got to me. I happy to say that I didn't get defensive or anything though, I just allowed the subject to be dropped and let him stick to his illusions.

Wow though! So now gluten-free improvement is faith orientated in the mainstream? :jawdrop:

Nowadays, unless ASKED, I pretty much avoid sharing anything in my immediate circle that would make me appear different from an average sleeping person. If a new acquaintance asks why I don't eat certain foods, I just say I have celiac, which is quite mainstream information now, and that's usually the end of it. It is much easier for both parties that way. There are plenty of opportunities to share in other mediums without violating free will.

In a sense, your friend is right. In this world where gluten is ubiquitous, one has to have high level of conviction and vigilance to be able to avoid all the gluten traps, which is necessary to get the benefits. If one just goes about it half-heartedly, no improvement is likely to result.
 
Funny that he says "if you believe". All of us here went total gluten free in solidarity with a family member who was sensitive if not fully celiac. None of us thought we NEEDED to and it was a challenge. But, oddly enough, after a few weeks, people's other issues that would seem to be totally unrelated began to clear up.

In other words, a dozen people went gluten free without any conviction that THEY NEEDED TO and only as time passed, realized that it was a really beneficial change. About half of them were NOT related to the original sufferer, by the way.
 
Bobo08 said:
Wisteria said:
I caught up with an old mate on Monday who I hadn't seen in a couple of years - pretty much since I've changed my diet. There was some free food happening, but I told him that I wasn't going to partake because I don't eat gluten anymore. He immediately felt sorry for me, sympthasing about allergies and whatnot. I made the mistake of telling him it was purely by choice that I do not eat gluten. I explained that I had done a great deal of research on the matter and discovered that gluten is not good for anyone. He disputed this, responding that you can find written information to support any ideas if you look hard enough. Now, I have to admit that there is definitely truth to this statement, but it was what he said next that really wound me up inside.

He insisted that the only reason I had seen a change in my health was because I believe gluten is bad. He said that if he made the same changes, he wouldn't notice anything because he didn't believe.

I just thought I would share this experience because, as I say, it rather got to me. I happy to say that I didn't get defensive or anything though, I just allowed the subject to be dropped and let him stick to his illusions.

Wow though! So now gluten-free improvement is faith orientated in the mainstream? :jawdrop:

Nowadays, unless ASKED, I pretty much avoid sharing anything in my immediate circle that would make me appear different from an average sleeping person. If a new acquaintance asks why I don't eat certain foods, I just say I have celiac, which is quite mainstream information now, and that's usually the end of it. It is much easier for both parties that way. There are plenty of opportunities to share in other mediums without violating free will.

In a sense, your friend is right. In this world where gluten is ubiquitous, one has to have high level of conviction and vigilance to be able to avoid all the gluten traps, which is necessary to get the benefits. If one just goes about it half-heartedly, no improvement is likely to result.
I concur. " I have celiac" is the best way to be respectful with others choices. It's like a conscious lie to avoid attention and fight. The problem is when you want "assist" (very hard in 3D sts) to some loved one who is vegetarian, and who know something of my choice for paleo then and keto now. If it's a casual talk, you can have a dialogue. But, when it becomes something deeper, which contradicts them, they start a war (especially vegans who take religious criteria). In such cases I just send to them Sott articles about the benefits of a diet change (with their prior approval). So far has not had a positive result. But I can not do more for them, it is their free will. But it's sad because I wish I could do more than that.
 
Laura said:
Funny that he says "if you believe". All of us here went total gluten free in solidarity with a family member who was sensitive if not fully celiac. None of us thought we NEEDED to and it was a challenge. But, oddly enough, after a few weeks, people's other issues that would seem to be totally unrelated began to clear up.

That was what struck me the most - he wholeheartedly believes that the improvement I have seen in my health since removing gluten is only because I believed my health would improve. But when I decided to give going gluten free a try, it was just an experiment to see what would happen to me personally (having read so much about other people's positive results). In many ways I would have been happy to discover no change, because eating gluten is certainly a lot easier than not eating gluten in this sick world.

l apprenti de forgeron said:
Bobo08 said:
Nowadays, unless ASKED, I pretty much avoid sharing anything in my immediate circle that would make me appear different from an average sleeping person. If a new acquaintance asks why I don't eat certain foods, I just say I have celiac, which is quite mainstream information now, and that's usually the end of it. It is much easier for both parties that way. There are plenty of opportunities to share in other mediums without violating free will.

In a sense, your friend is right. In this world where gluten is ubiquitous, one has to have high level of conviction and vigilance to be able to avoid all the gluten traps, which is necessary to get the benefits. If one just goes about it half-heartedly, no improvement is likely to result.
I concur. " I have celiac" is the best way to be respectful with others choices. It's like a conscious lie to avoid attention and fight. The problem is when you want "assist" (very hard in 3D sts) to some loved one who is vegetarian, and who know something of my choice for paleo then and keto now. If it's a casual talk, you can have a dialogue. But, when it becomes something deeper, which contradicts them, they start a war (especially vegans who take religious criteria). In such cases I just send to them Sott articles about the benefits of a diet change (with their prior approval). So far has not had a positive result. But I can not do more for them, it is their free will. But it's sad because I wish I could do more than that.

I certainly wasn't trying to convert him or anything like that. We were just having a conversation and the truth happened to slip out. When I saw where he was going, I dropped the topic as quickly as possible.

I still find it hard to consciously lie about these things, but I definitely understand the benefit of doing so.

I totally agree with you in regards to vegans. I avoid most conversation with those guys because I know that most of what I will say in regards to food will upset them immensely. I'm very practiced at keeping my mouth shut around them now.
 
Wisteria said:
I still find it hard to consciously lie about these things, but I definitely understand the benefit of doing so.

I totally agree with you in regards to vegans. I avoid most conversation with those guys because I know that most of what I will say in regards to food will upset them immensely. I'm very practiced at keeping my mouth shut around them now.

You can look at it as "conscious lying" or as External Consideration, strategic enclosure, and clever insincerity. Those topics are covered extensively on the forum.
 
Laura said:
You can look at it as "conscious lying" or as External Consideration, strategic enclosure, and clever insincerity. Those topics are covered extensively on the forum.

Yes, I have been reading about external consideration quite a bit lately. I hadn't heard the term 'clever insincerity' before. I like it. I will look that one up too. Ta. :)
 
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