Having Gluten Intolerance in my family and therefore having to read up and be au fait on this subject, I learned that besides nasty diseases like crones disease and graves disease and lots of other scary things, GI causes diabetes. I don't know if it is the only cause of diabetes, but I would hazard guess that it may be. A report in Health24 stated that sugar was found not to have any effect on diabetes. Well my GI research & limited experience had already told me that. Anyone with diabetes I would strongly suggest stop ALL gluten immediately. GI is a poison, not an allergy. I would not be surprised to hear that continuing to consume gluten may lead to the horrific gangerene. Of course I may be wrong, but I think it it highly probable.

I read that one in every 135 Americans is GI and do not know it. That is frightening, SA must have about the same stats. Gluten besides being in wheat and most grains is even in wine vinegar, maltodextrin, most alcoholic drinks, chocolates and blue cheese and the list goes on. One cannot even eat oats that have been stored in a place where wheat was stored or use the same butter knife that was used on wheat bread. Maize meal, rice, potatoes and gluten free pasta become main food basics and sushi is always acceptable. Some say GI is a gene thing, others that eating meat with all the hormones and additives may be one of the major causes for the rocketing Gluten Intolerance figures, and again I note, that diabetes is also increasing rapidly. Chemicals in other food groups might also be driving these diseases some what, I being a vegetarian am inclined to think meat is the main culprit.

Signs of GI include the so called spastic colon, which my hernia surgeon, who is one of the top surgeons in the world, told me is, in his opinion, a figment of medical imagination. It was this casual observation that led us to finally find the cause of our family member's problems and I shudder to think what would have happened without this clue. Of course my esteemed surgeon had no idea how GI was probably something his area of expertise should become expert in. Other signs include but are not exhaustive of: digestion problems, nausea, bloating, acid reflux, back ache, (and let me add here that this nasty disease, if not spotted can cause this back problem to cripple people as it damages the spine by displacing the vertebrae with swelling) extreme tiredness after eating gluten and even things like the skin tearing in the nether regions.

Alarming is that tests frequently cannot prove GI, even a biopsy of the intestines, so best to stop all gluten and see how you feel after a few weeks. Gi apparently causes the upper intestines not to absorb any nutrients. Horrible. Over a long period of time terrible diseases show up but they are the fruit, not the root.