Hey Bill...

Before I went GF I could eat oatmeal and feel great. I also ate more rice than most people. But I didn't feel any symptoms from eating wheat because I was never off of it long enough for my system to clear fully (the body adapts to things it can't tolerate - not that it isn't reacting, but the reaction is muted because the system is constantly being bombarded). Once I was off gluten about 95% for about 6 weeks I did start noticing some symptom remission and exacerbation upon eating wheat products. That was when I made the connection - a left lower quadrant abdominal pain that I'd had for several years but been unable to identify the source of went away on the mostly GF diet and then returned with a vengeance shortly after eating a cinnamon roll (my first piece of bread in that 6 weeks). After that I went (or tried to go - it took several years to find and eliminate trace gluten) fully gluten free. For a while I would know I had gotten into it because it would cause GI bleeding and general upset for about 4 days. After 6 years on the diet I accidentally ate a gluten meal (chef misunderstood "gluten-free") and had no reaction except maybe some headache and fuzziness. Now when I get into it I feel "tight headed," fuzzy and generally "blah" for a day, but recover fairly quickly. I do have to be careful about my oats. I can eat certain brands of oats, but I am only moderately tolerant of commercial 'non-gluten ingredient' products like granola and granola bars (oats are gluten-free, but very often contain cross contamination due to being alternated with wheat in crop rotation schemes).

Eating gluten-free is much easier now than it used to be. So many products are specifically labeled as 'gluten-free'. Nine years ago when I started this wasn't the case. They are still more expensive, but many more mainstream products have been reformulated (i.e. Chex, and now Rice Krispies), which makes it easier to eat GF on a tight student's budget.

By the way, they keep refining the incidence rate of gluten sensitivitiy. The most recent number I saw is that 1 in 100 people have a gluten issue. The biggest problem with gluten sensitivity is that the digestive system (small intestines) are long, and it may only be a small portion of the system that is damaged. But in that area the digestive tract opens up and is more permeable to whatever is in your digestive "goop" so you can get exposed to alot of waste products that the gut would normally filter out (like fragrance chemicals). You heal the damage and you are no longer exposed to the toxins. It can also impair absorption of nutrients. But because the damage is different for everyone, the symptoms are different as well. Nobody thought to tie my migraines, chemical sensitivities, and peripheral neuropathy to what I was eating, but all of those symptoms went away on a GF diet. Last year I learned of a case of Lou Gherig's disease that went into remission on a GF diet (talked to the doctor who published the case). It is an amazing disease/disorder that is so simple to treat, but identifying it can take a lifetime.

MNS