Does Wheat Make You Ill?
Gluten intolerance and sensitivity are real but often under-diagnosed conditions.
The media and many clinicians are often unaware about gluten intolerance; sufferers can feel gaslighted into thinking it is imagined or a fad.
If you suffer brain fog, fatigue, or gastrointestinal symptoms after eating gluten, seek medical advice.
Wheat is a common component of the Western diet and is present in obvious foods such as bread, many breakfast cereals, cakes, and pastries. It is also a common additive to processed foods that do not need wheat because it provides bulk or changes the texture or flavor: e.g., curries, soups, frozen chips, sausages, and even chocolate bars. Some people report feeling unwell after eating products that contain wheat, such as feeling “brain fog,” a mental sensation of being fatigued, drowsy, hazy-minded, or not fully alert. Other commonly reported consequences of eating wheat or other products containing gluten are diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms.
Gaslighting of sufferers
Despite suffering the ill health consequences of eating wheat, many people feel gaslighted by society and some clinicians who doubt whether their symptoms are real, frequent, or harmful, and many people often feel like they are simply not believed when they say that eating wheat or other types of gluten makes them ill. Although there is a formal diagnosis for intolerance to wheat and other grains containing gluten (celiac disease), the baseline assumption is that gluten intolerance is clinically rare and only present in a small number of cases that meet a certain clinical threshold.
However, the symptoms of gluten intolerance or sensitivity are not mere inconveniences to the people who suffer them. Brain fog can hamper their daily quality of life, work productivity, and enjoyment of everyday activities because they feel too drowsy and not alert enough. Frequent diarrhea can have serious consequences for the body’s absorption of vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients, potentially leading to long-term malnutrition and subsequent health problems.
Gaslighting about whether gluten intolerance or sensitivity is real or imagined is based on the myth that there is one universal method of diagnosing celiac disease and that the method is clinically valid.
Controversy over how to diagnose gluten intolerance
The problem is that there is actually variation between countries in the criteria for diagnosis. For example, some national clinical guidelines recommend that physicians refer patients who report persistent unexplained gastrointestinal symptoms, fatigue, vitamin deficiency, and other possible signs of gluten intolerance to serological testing for celiac disease, and laboratories are asked to look for certain biomarkers (e.g., total IgA/IgA tTG or, if IgA tTG shows weak positivity, IgA EMA). However, more evidence is needed to justify this approach as the main method of diagnosing celiac disease, and new evidence is emerging about the role of other biomarkers. In some countries, biopsies are used rather than serological testing.
Therefore, there is the problem of how gluten intolerance is clinically defined and diagnosed. Even then, the problem of under-testing remains because patients don't seek help due to fear that their physician will not believe them, because they believe media reports claiming that gluten intolerance is very rare or a dietary fad, or because they have simply lived with the symptoms for so many years that they think they are normal. Physicians who think that gluten intolerance is a fad might be less likely to ascribe the symptoms to gluten and, therefore, less likely to offer patients serological testing in the first place.
There is also a cyclical problem with the evidence in that if studies only focus on people with celiac disease but not gluten intolerance defined in other ways, their experiences are not sufficiently represented within the literature. Research suggests that there might be other biomarkers or physical signs of gluten intolerance that should be incorporated within the guidelines. Research is needed to clarify the effects of wheat versus other gluten-containing grains, and the effects of preparation methods (e.g., fermentation, processing) on reducing or worsening gluten intolerance or sensitivity.
Is there clinician bias?
Furthermore, the process of investigation and interpretation might depend on the views or experiences of clinicians conducting endoscopies of patients. Whereas some might be sympathetic and objective, others might have biased views about gluten intolerance as something that is imagined. Expecting not to be believed might put many people off from seeking a formal diagnosis and make them resort to self-help.
Many people have discovered research about gluten through self-help websites or literature, such as the influential book Wheat Belly by cardiologist Dr. William Davis. They may then cut out gluten from their diet and instantly feel better, but there remain others who do not know about the potential effects of wheat in cases where it could be responsible for their recurrent brain fog and gastrointestinal symptoms because they believe society’s gaslighting of their symptoms as not real or a sign of jumping on a “bandwagon” or diet fad. Some might even dismiss their own symptoms as caused by something else.
Cutting out gluten does not mean being unhealthy
If you suspect that you have gluten intolerance, do not be gaslighted into believing that you are imagining your symptoms. Speak to your physician and read about the research showing the potential ill health effects of wheat. Remember:
Cutting out wheat or other types of gluten is not a fad diet or “abnormal,” because many people across the world have, for centuries, traditionally eaten a wheat-free diet comprising of starches such as rice, millet, yams, legumes, cornmeal, seeds, or potatoes as the carbohydrate element of their meal. The idea that one “should” eat wheat-based meals is culturally specific and not something you should be gaslighted into conforming to.
Cutting out wheat and other grains containing gluten should not require buying replacement foods (e.g., gluten-free bread, cakes, or pastries) or extra expenditure. Do not replace wheat with items containing concerning additives, preservatives, or ingredients whose health effects are unknown. Being gluten-free should involve eating natural alternatives and home-cooked meals where possible.
Cutting out wheat does not mean that you will be deprived of fiber and carbohydrates or essential nutrients if you maintain a healthy diet. Myths assume that people rely on bread, flour, or breakfast cereal fortified with vitamins, but you should be consuming vitamin-rich natural foods, such as vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, meat, fish, etc., as well as carbohydrates rich in fiber.
Not everyone suffers an intolerance to wheat and other sources of gluten, but that does not mean that those who do suffer are imagining it. Seek advice from your physician and find out whether cutting out gluten can help. If you suffer brain fog, diarrhea, an unexplained vitamin deficiency, or other possible signs of gluten intolerance, do not feel gaslighted by society into thinking that you are imagining your symptoms.