Allergy is something else again.

"Gluten-free"

"GMO-free"

"Natural"

"Organic"

"Low-fat"

And so on...

My family was giving me a hard time for calling Dr. Woo.....sorry Dr. Oz, a quack for peddling that bullshit on TV the other day. He was talking to some guy peddling a book claiming carbs and glutens were the reason behind every known disease to man from Parkinson's disease to Alzheimer's.

But then again, every time my family has that show on that quack is peddling some sort of bullshit woo or another. How did he ever get a MD?

Thou shalt not doubt the self-diagnosis of nebulous, made-up maladies.

my daughter has Celiac Disease (intestinal biopsy confirmed), and the gluten-intolerant movement has created an entire industry of gluten-free options that she can get.

Without the market for gluten-free food, we wouldn't have nearly the number of gluten-free choices that exist now.

Sid

but I think that it's best if people 'listen to their bodies' as regards what they eat. People may for various reasons find some foods more conducive to their well-being than others. I'm not sure that this is best put into a neat little box of 'X intolerance'; but I think people's dietary preferences should, where possible, be respected.

I have Crohn's disease, and find that dietary management, chosen by trial and error, helps me to stay on a low dosage of medication. I don't have any gluten intolerance, real or assumed; but I do find that many (not all) high-fibre foods are indigestible for me, and thus make me feel unwell.