Is This Commonly Missed Food Sensitivity Affecting YOU?

We were excited this morning to see gluten featured in an article in today's Boston Globe. It offers the perfect opportunity to present a pro/con blog post about the commonly used term 'gluten-free' and address our many customer inquiries and concerns.

The article titled "FDA finally regulating foods labeled ‘gluten-free’" explains that until now foods labeled 'gluten-free' in the United States were unregulated.  This means the food industry was given plenty of license to use the 'gluten-free' label without the food item having to be 100 percent gluten-free, because the FDA hadn't established a standard for the label. The FDA has now caught up to European regulatory bodies, and we are happy to learn of this!

The article goes on to quote Linda Antinoro, a registered dietitian at Brigham and Women’s Hospital: “There is no reason to avoid gluten if you don’t have celiac,’’ said Antinoro, “but plenty of my patients with the condition tell me they feel wonderful after switching off gluten. There’s no evidence that gluten-free diets offer any health benefits to those who don’t have celiac."

No disrespect to anyone at Brigham and Women's, truly, for they do the very best they can to save lives every day. But, there is plenty of evidence to the contrary!

Doctor Mercola is well-known among the holistic medical community for getting to the bottom of a myriad of health myths, using research that ISN'T funded by giant pharma and agri-businesses. Search 'gluten' on his website, and a whole list of articles are returned on the subject, including one about the very real impact of gluten on millions not diagnosed with celiacs disease.

Another website readily utilized by the health community for un-biased information, To Your Health, also provides plenty of real information about a widespread sensitvity to gluten.

Even well-educated, well-meaning and very necessary doctors don't always have ALL the answers. Therefore, we both believe we are our own best doctors where nutrition and general health is concerned. The information is out there, and we've spent years reading, researching and testing on ourselves with tremendous results.

Heartburn, eczema, osteoporosis, arthritis, early-onset Alzheimer's, pancreatitis, macular degeneration, stubborn obesity and low energy levels, depression, mood
disorders, stomach pains and persistent flatulence may all be attributed in part to a gluten sensitivity.

If you think you may have a sensitivity to gluten, we urge you take some time to read about it (all are welcome to stop in to peruse one of the many books on the subject that we keep at the Peach!) and even test out how you feel after eliminating gluten from your diet for one week. You might be surprised! 

Augusta and Lori

PS. Each Peach Cafe is 100% gluten-free!