Newsflash on Gluten Intolerance (FW)

In the last few years you may have noticed that more and more people around you are switching to gluten-free diets. Grocery stores now have gluten-free sections and cookbooks boast of gluten-free recipes. So what is behind this gluten-free fad? When and why did the world suddenly decide that wheat is bad for you?
This blog post will hopefully answer some of the most common questions about gluten and gluten intolerance.
To start off with lets discuss a myth about the gluten-free diet.
Going gluten-free is not a valid diet plan:
Some people have decided that going gluten-free is a great way to lose weight. This is crazy. If you are actually gluten-intolerant it makes sense that you would lose weight on a gluten-free diet because your stomach can more easily digest gluten-free foods. It also can make you more conscious of the carbohydrates you eat because you have to stay away from regular pastries, bread and pasta etc. However, deciding to go on the "gluten-free diet" and just eat gluten-free cookies, brownies and nasty gluten-free bread will not help you lose weight. Gluten-free pastry equivalents often have more sugar and calories than their glutenous counterparts. So don't be ridiculous and eat gluten-free unless you actually have a sensitivity.
If you think you may be gluten-sensitive, take it seriously!
The National Institute of Health recently stated that between 5-10% of the world's population may be gluten sensitive. This percentage may be higher in America because there are unregulated amounts of gluten in American wheat flour. Many who cannot stomach bread in America find that European bread does not affect them. Anyways, be careful! Untreated gluten intolerance can lead to major health concerns. Untreated and undiagnosed celiac disease (a much more dangerous type of gluten intolerance) can lead to death. 97% of American estimated to have celiac disease are undiagnosed. Gluten is not something to mess around with. If you experience a lot of the symptoms of gluten intolerance or celiac disease (stomach cramps, headaches, tiredness, nausea, bloating) doe some research and consider trying out the gluten-free diet for a trial period (2 weeks) and see if it is right for you.
The growth of celiac disease:
This brings me to why gluten-intolerance and gluten-free diets have become so much more prevalent in recent years. One reason is education. There is a lot more information out about gluten-intolerance and its symptoms. Another reason is super-strand of gluten pumped into American flour. The third, and in my opinion, scariest reason is the growing amount of people with celiac disease. Celiac disease is a digestive malfunction where gluten damages the small intestine and kills the villi, the body part that helps absorb nutrients. 1 in 133 people have celiac disease. The incidence of celiac disease in men has increased 4X since 1948. Celiac is growing way more prevalent and many in the medical field consider it to be an epidemic. It needs to get a lot more attention than it is getting now. It is connected with an increase of risk of cancer and with celiac disease you are 77 times more likely to develope lymphoma.
So hide your kids, hide your wife, because celiac disease is coming to kill us all.

Be gluten-educated!

The danger that lies in comparisons (CC)

Last English class, a classmate made the claim that the village in Achebe's Things Fall Apart, was low in the spectrum of civilization. I took this to mean that the classmate was claiming that this particular African village was uncivilized compared to our wonderful western, technology-ridden advanced civilization. The classmate's claim somehow connected to his argument that Conrad's Heart of Darkness was not racist but I did not entirely understand that argument so in this blog post I will focus entirely on the claims made about civilization.
Let's start with a definition because definitions are hard to argue with.
By multiple online dictionaries, civilization is defined as a high functioning state of human social development and organization. Basically a civilization is an organized society.
So although an African village civilization may look like this

and an American village civilization may look like this




by my definition both settings are equally civilized because they both have organized social structures and are making advancements in their societies.
But you may say, "Ha. We're much more civilized because we have art movements, i-phones, and college." This brings me to the danger that lies in comparisons. Yes, if one chooses to measure degree of civilization by advancements in the arts and sciences, the western world is more "civilized" than the average African village. Yet this comparison is pointless because the two settings are so different that they cannot be compared in such a way. Advancements just show up in different ways. An African villager may come up with an ingenious way to patch roofs with palm leaves while an American technician creates a new gameboy. Both advancements are brilliant but each advancement is completely useless to the other setting. This brings me to my main point: when two places are as different as a village in Africa is to the modern western world, comparisons are absolutely useless in making an argument. Each place is civilized in their own fashion, but who are we to claim that one way is better than another?

Also before I draw this lengthy blog post to a close I must point out that referring to a place as "uncivilized" could be seen as highly offensive. Yes, you may have statistics and equations and solid reasoning for your claim, but the fact remains that "uncivilized" is seen in the eyes of many as being a synonym for "barbaric", "chaotic" and "savage". "Civilized" bring to mind intelligence, while the word "uncivilized" bring to mind stupidity. Words carry great meaning and this is no one's fault. It just means that one has to tread lightly when using certain words, so that people can fully understand the point you're trying to make without being offended by hidden word connotations.

I'm sorry for the swear word, Ms. Pyle! The image was too good not to put in!