In my practice I meet quite a few individuals who claim to be sensitive to gluten. It seems like everyone and their mom is going gluten-free these days. However, there’s very good reason to give it up.
I don’t doubt that some of the individuals that I’ve met were giving up gluten just because some famous celebrity was backing it as a trend. But most of them had legitimate reasons for ditching gluten. Most notably, it didn’t make them feel well. I myself gave it up and noticed improvements in my health. But why has the rate of non-Celiac gluten sensitivity increased so much in recent years? Here’s my take on its rise.
Before the early 1990s it was rare to find a person with a gluten sensitivity. Yes, Celiac disease existed but it was much less common. It affected maybe about 1 in 100,000 people. Today it affects about 1 in 133. And those are just the people who are diagnosed. So what changed?
In 1992 the United States started adding glyphosate to the food supply. Wheat crops were heavily sprayed with it. It was used as a desiccant, or drying agent, before harvest. This was profitable to wheat farmers since it meant that the wheat crop could dry prematurely and quickly to be sold off so more could be planted. This is really where the problem became so much worse. We now had gluten and glyphosate in the same bite of food. Glyphosate increases the toxicity of gluten, which can irritate the gut lining much more than just gluten alone. Receptors in the gut react negatively to the combination of gluten and glyphosate. Thus, a condition known as leaky gut results.
Going gluten-free to fix sensitivity issues is not just a trend. The synergy of gluten and glyphosate really are making our gut linings more dysfunctional. To reverse this problem we need to become more aware of what’s going on. Glyphosate may very well be the worst thing that’s happened to our food system. It’s important to choose organic foods as much as possible. Filtering your water is also important since glyphosate can seep into tap water wells as well. For this step, I highly recommend a Berkey water filtration system.
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