The following Mark's Daily Apple articles were written by Marksystems and are narrated by Brock Armstrong.

Welcome to Mark's Daily Apple Best of 2014, Volume 6, Gluten.

Featuring, Does gluten have any Any Effect on Non-Celiacs?

And The Dangers of Going Gluten Free.

Does gluten have any effect on non-celiacs? The headlines are everywhere. Gluten sensitivity doesn't actually exist, and anyone who thinks they have it is a liar, delusional, dumb, or all three.

The message isn't a new one, but the stories do point to a new study from a

group of researchers who previously found that removing wheat from the diet improved symptoms

in people with IBS. In the new paper, the researchers tested whether isolated gluten,

rather than wheat, exacerbated IBS symptoms. It did not. The IBS patients in the latest study

showed no reaction to isolated gluten, and the only dietary variable that increased their

symptoms was wheat. This could suggest that at least for some people with IBS,

gluten sensitivity may actually be a wheat sensitivity, triggered by the

fermentable Fodmap fibers found in the grain.

Folks are so eager to say, told you so, that they gloss over the important fact.

Going gluten-free still worked.

Sure, I guess some IBS patients can start doing lines of isolated

gluten powder or whatever, but if the FODMAP mechanism holds, they're still not eating wheat.

They're still gluten-free, or wheat-free, or whatever you want to call it, and they're still

experiencing relief from debilitating symptoms.

The why is certainly important. It's interesting. It provides jobs for researchers and fodders

for online arguments. It can lead to effective treatments and pharmaceutical interventions,

but it doesn't affect the people, here today, dealing with health issues who cannot wait around

...