Summary: Celiac.com 04/30/2021 - According to Dangerous Grains by Dr. Ron Hoggan and James Braly, M.D., intolerances to foods other than gluten are the most common reason that people continue to have health problems after they've gone on a gluten-free diet. Yet, from the hundreds of emails I've gotten from people on the celiac email list, and from online forums, I've found that many people don't investigate other food intolerances, even though they suffer from health problems that likely could be cured by eliminating problem foods. I was sick for five months solid in the summer of 2004, after I'd adopted a gluten-free diet. I would get up in the morning feeling half well; I'd get my shopping done first thing in the morning. Then I'd go home and lapse into a semi-stuporous state. I would sit in a chair for the rest of the day, my mind slogging slowly through a swamp. I thought at the time it was hayfever from my 53 inhalant allergies, but I was taking six different allergy medicines, to no avail. I later found that I actually had intolerances to about 90% of the foods I'd been eating. What had really been happening, it seemed, was that I felt somewhat better after fasting overnight. Then I would eat something an allergen for breakfast. I'd get my shopping done then I'd start to feel sick from my breakfast. My inhalant allergies were actually only a small part of the problem. After going on an exotic foods diet, I became much healthier. In the summer of 2005, I went running every day and my mind was much clearer. My 53 inhaled allergies no longer bothered me as much. This is typical for people with multiple food intolerances. They can be hidden just like gluten intolerance. If you're like me, your body probably didn't like gluten long before you were aware of it. It's not like a peanut allergy. If you were allergic to peanuts, you'd probably know it. Your body isn't able to suppress that allergic reaction. But if you're gluten intolerant, you can eat gluten every day and never know what's making you so sick. Your body hides its reaction, so you don't notice feeling worse after eating gluten. Wheat might even have been one of your favorite foods. After you stop eating gluten, your body no longer has to work so hard to suppress food intolerance reactions. So if you have other food intolerances, after a few months or so you may start to feel obviously worse after eating those foods. This is an excellent reason for sticking strictly to a gluten-free diet - it will help you find any other food intolerances you may have, and thus speed your recovery. If you don't do a careful elimination diet, you may be in for a long, agonizing process of eliminating the foods you're intolerant to, one by one, feeling sick perhaps for years after starting a gluten-free diet. Food intolerance can cause many other problems. Joint pain and stiffness is a common symptom. Just before I found out about my gluten intolerance, both my elbows and knees were hurting, and the tendons in my forearm and hand hurt so much I couldn't lift a cast iron pan with one hand. After I eliminated the many foods I'm intolerant to, in addition to gluten, I was able to run without pain. I've also noticed that my old joint injuries often stiffen after food challenges. Joint inflammation and stiffening are thought to accelerate joint destruction in osteoarthritis, the wear-and-tear arthritis that many people suffer from as they get older. Many diseases are partly caused by chronic inflammation. Inflammation contributes to the onset and progression of tumors, and is involved in atherosclerosis. Hidden food intolerances can cause chronic inflammation and irritation in many areas of the body, so finding your food intolerances could help with any problem that involves irritation or inflammation. I think that when food intolerances are hidden, the body compensates somewhat for their pro-inflammatory effects, because my C-reactive protein and sedimentation rate, measur
