[pale_rider]

I wish there was more known regarding the type of bread/gluten exposure.

I know someone who has an 8 year old daughter who has weird reactions to gluten: causes her to feel sick, often get hives, and most of all get a cough that can't be controlled. Eliminating gluten fixes this. Normally reintroduction to gluten reintroduces the symptoms shortly thereafter.

However a year or two ago they went on vacation in Europe. At some point their daughter had bread at a cafe and the symptoms never popped up. Puzzled, they let her eat bread at other destinations during the trip; nothing.

Granted this isn't directly related to the article because this pertains more to a gluten sensitivity (which is a whole different can of worms) not celiac disease specifically.

Nevertheless I think it's interesting that often times it seems to deal with how the product is made.

I once read when researching the topic that a typical piece of bread (in the states) contains 100x more gluten than bread that was consumed in the 50's. This might be stretch, but with all the health oddities that have been surfacing it's certainly believable.

[jpadvo]

A relative of mine thought she had a gluten intolerance - turned out it was something in enriched white flour. She can eat any kind of wheat product if it's made with home-ground flour.

[pale_rider]

That very well could be the case for this girl.

[awolf]

My endocrinolost relayed a similar story to me. His wife can not tolerate gluten in the US but does fine digesting gluten in Europe.

I believe most of the strains of wheat grown in the US are potentially more harmful to our digestive systems than elsewhere.

I've heard the US stains are genetically modified to be more resistant to pesticides and that this resistance comes with other deleterious effects. This last part, is a questionable claim that I have no support for and remain skeptical of.

[jmspring]

While not related to the article, many people conflate gluten intolerance and celiac. There are overlaps in terms of dietary needs.

[beagle3]

That echoes my experience; my map so far is:

US: Almost always reacting badly.

Iceland: No bad reaction

Sweden: No bad reaction

Denmark: Always reacting badly.

It's not just Europe vs US.

[Mz]

I appreciate your remarks but think it is even more complicated than that. I have a form of cystic fibrosis. CF puts people at higher risk of also having Celiac and even without Celiac it is common to have trouble with wheat and dairy. Getting myself healthier has made me more tolerant of wheat and dairy. And I sometimes am okay with x oil but sick if the same thing is expeller pressed. I have noted a lot of weird things like that.

Thanks for commenting.

[Evbn]

Link for the gluten ratio? That only seems possible if older recipes were specifically removing a large macroscopic component of he grain.

[pale_rider]

I don't have the specific link to the article I was thinking of, which is why I think 100x could have been a number pulled out of the air and wildly inaccurate. But the concept may not be as far off.

A little Googling will turn up that there is research and theory that shows bread/wheat today does contain notably larger quantities of gluten (now, probably not 100x) than in the past.

"Scientists suggest that there may be more celiac disease today because people eat more processed wheat products like pastas and baked goods than in decades past, and those items use types of wheat that have a higher gluten content. Gluten helps dough rise and gives baked goods structure and texture."[1]

Bottom line is it's still a complete mystery, but likely _something_ has changed in our environment over time. I find it pretty interesting though hopefully more breakthroughs are in the near future. I know a fair amount of people who are legitimately celiac and some who are gluten sensitive and it takes a lot of discipline to say the least.

[1]http://bigstory.ap.org/article/your-problem-gluten-or-faddis...