Why Gluten-Free Cheerleaders Work My Every Last Nerve

When I was first diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, I joined a lot of online support groups in the hopes of finding people to share my experiences with. Every time I mentioned that I was new, I would get bombarded with suggestions… no, not suggestions, people INSISTING that I absolutely HAD to go gluten-free, or else.

There were absolutely no ifs, ands, or buts about it. If I had Hashimoto’s, it was imperative that I remove any and all traces of gluten from my diet, lest I die a horrible, slow, and painful death.

When I told them that I’d done the research on gluten and was pretty sure that I didn’t have an issue with it, I was told that I just didn’t know how sick I was. That, once I quit gluten, I would feel so much better and realize exactly how wrong I am.

Well, fuck you.

Look, I have spent several years of my life with people who think they know my body, better than I, telling me that I’m NOT as sick as I KNOW I am. And now, I have people who have probably been through the same shit, with doctors not listening, PRESUMING that THEY know what’s best for ME and MY BODY. Essentially telling me that I’m SICKER than I KNOW I am, because they fancy themselves experts.

Well, fuck you.

Look, I’ve read the research.

In ONE study, referenced by Mary Shomon, researchers looked at 172 patients with autoimmune thyroid disease and two control groups without. Of the patients WITH autoimmune thyroid disease, 3.4% tested positive for celiac disease. Of the patients WITHOUT autoimmune thyroid disease, 0.6% and 0.25% tested positive for celiac. The study also indicated that undiagnosed celiac could actually be a trigger for other autoimmune diseases.  I have not yet found the actual study from which this information was pulled.

An article in the 2007 issue of Today’s Dietitian, says that people with celiac are more likely to develop autoimmune thyroid disease, and that the reverse is also true.  They cite a 2008 study by Naiyer et al showing that individuals with celiac have high Anti-tTG (antitissue transblutaminase) antibodies, which also bind and react to thyroid tissue. Patients with celiac were also shown to have more anti-thyroid antibodies than people with other autoimmune diseases. The study further revealed that celiac patients who follow a gluten-free diet have fewer anti-thyroid antibodies. You can find the abstract of the study here.

Another study that I found online involved 454 hypothyroid patients, 11 of which had positive blood tests for celiac. Of those patients, six had autoimmune hypothyroidism, and five did not. Of these patients 10 had a colon biopsy and, of those:

•  Two patients showed damage, resulting in a positive celiac diagnosis;
• One patient had a normal biopsy, but because she had a positive blood test and iron deficiency, was diagnosed with atypical celiac disease, and 
• The remaining patients had normal biopsies, no gastrointestinal complaints, but a positive blood test, and were diagnosed as having potential celiac disease.

So, out of 424 patients, 2.4 % percent were classified as either having classic, atypical or potential celiac. However, only 0.4% had CLASSIC celiac, which is lower than the rate in other studies. Even when you take into account the one patient with atypical celiac, the majority of patients have POTENTIAL celiac, which means they don’t actually have the disease but could develop it in the future.

Look, here’s the deal. There have been several studies that show a connection between celiac and thyroid disease; that the mechanism that causes celiac could be the same mechanism that damages the thyroid IN SOME PATIENTS.

However, based on what I’ve read, celiac sensitivity only appears in a small percentage of people.

In a study of 172 people, 3.4% is roughly six people; and the article that references the study does not indicate HOW the researchers went about diagnosing celiac.

In the study with 424 people, less than 3.4% were diagnosed with anything RELATED to celiac, and less than 1% were diagnosed with ACTUAL celiac.

If a bunch of people with Hashimoto’s want to take that to mean that THEY PERSONALLY should stop eating gluten, so be it. It’s your body, do whatever the fuck you want.

But what pisses me off is that you don’t stop with you. You diagnose yourself celiac or gluten intolerant, without a serum antibody test or a colon biopsy, and then you go about diagnosing EVERYONE ELSE.

You go around talking about how “instances of gluten intolerance and celiac are on the rise,” when you really have no fucking idea why. 

• There could be more diagnoses because, thanks to advances in medical technology, more people with ACTUAL CELIAC are getting accurate diagnoses, instead of living their lives in pain and getting diagnosed with everything else. 
• There could also me "more instances" because people like you are self-diagnosing gluten intolerance.

You go around bashing gluten as the “evil food du jour,” and push stupid fad diets based on crap pseudo-science.

You insist that gluten-free is a cure, and that you've been gluten-free for x days, months, years, yet still complain on the boards about being sick.

And you go around making assumptions about MY health, and question MY EXPERIENCE in MY BODY, when I tell you that I’ve decided not to go gluten-free...

Well, fuck you.

I didn’t ask you for your opinion, and a sure as shit didn’t ask for a diagnosis that you are not qualified to give, so keep it to yourself.

You feel so much better when you don't eat gluten? Great! Leave me the fuck out of it.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m getting a damn donut.