OPINION: What's with the gluten?

I asked her whether she had seen a doctor about this. “I went to my dentist first,” she said, “in case I had an abscess or something. The dentist referred me to my primary-care physician, who sent me to an endodontist, and SHE referred me to an ear-nose-and-throat specialist.”

The long chain of doctors Kathryn had seen also included (among others) a neurologist, an allergist, an endocrinologist, and an oncologist who ordered an MRI of her brain to rule out the possibility of a tumor. At the end of nine months and 19 medical and dental appointments, no one had any answers for her. So now she was calling her cousin in rural Georgia for advice! The pain, she said, had become so intense that when she had one of these flare-ups she had to pace the floor.

“Did anyone mention trigeminal neuralgia to you?” I asked. “Your symptoms sound exactly like those of my friend Beth. She has TN, but when she stays on a strict gluten-free diet she’s pain-free.” I added that one of my cousins here, who has a different kind of neuralgia, has also become pain-free by eliminating gluten from her diet — “but if she cheats, the pain comes back. Does all of that sound too crazy?” I asked, and Kathryn said, “No, it makes sense. I’ve noticed that whenever I have a nice pasta dinner, I end up pacing the floor. (Kathryn is half-Italian, so pasta is comfort food for her — or at least it used to be.)

Gluten sensitivity and gluten intolerance are on the rise, but no one knows why. I have a hunch that the genetic modification of wheat and other grains is responsible, but then I strongly believe it’s not nice to fool (or fool with) Mother Nature. Although there have always been people with the severe form of gluten intolerance, called celiac disease, they were just a tiny fraction of the world’s population. Now, however, about one in 130 Americans has a significant problem with gluten.
Digestive difficulties (IBS and Crohn’s disease, for example), neurological disorders like trigeminal neuralgia, autoimmune diseases such as arthritis, and even autism have all shown possible links to gluten or, more specifically, to gliadin (one of the proteins in gluten). And gluten is now nearly ubiquitous, found not just in wheat, rye, and barley, but in rotisserie chickens, deli meats, mayonnaise, salad dressings, shortening, and so on and on — and in a long list of non-food items, including hair dyes, lipstick, play dough, and glue.

Supermarkets carry an increasing number of gluten-free products, but even so, it’s not easy to get gluten out of your life. It takes research, discipline, and a willingness to learn a new way of cooking and eating. But anyone who has a baffling or stubborn health problem might want to try it, or at least consider it.

Susan Harper is retired, lives in Commerce and volunteers with the Commerce Public Library and the Jackson County Literacy Program.