I am going to preface this rant with what I think is an important point: My opinions are based on my knowledge of nutrition, training and supplementation over my time in this game. Thirty years is a long time and during that time, experiences I have had as a competitor and working with thousands of people directly, and even more people that I have interacted with at all levels of bodybuilding and sport through my website for too many years to count, should qualify my opinion. However, they are OPINIONS and even though I feel strongly about my opinions, I respect that other people might have differing opinions on the same topic. So, if you read something I say and it contradicts what someone else has said or told you, I don’t really care. At that point, it is up to you to figure out whose opinion seems more logical or you can experiment and come to your own conclusion.
The above being stated, there has finally been more information that gluten intolerance is, for the most part, a bandwagon condition. I couldn’t be happier to hear that more and more people are standing up and saying this because, had I said this two years ago, I would have been stoned to death.
Before you start picking up rocks and warming your arm up, let me state very clearly that there absolutely are people that cannot digest gluten. I get that and I concede this. I don’t have a problem with celiac disease or acknowledging that it exists. Clearly, it does. What I do have a problem with is the amount of people that swear they have it, and don’t.
Just because you have gas doesn’t automatically mean you are gluten intolerant. Bloating or distention does not automatically mean you are gluten intolerant. This condition is self-diagnosed so much in the last few years that if you asked ten people that workout if they are gluten intolerant you would get seven that say they are. Shocker. But when you eat food your stomach is going to poke out a little bit. It happens. If you eat too much protein you will get gassy. If you eat too many carbs you can get gassy. If you eat too much dairy you can get gassy but when people eat too much dairy they aren’t screaming “lactose” intolerance for some weird reason (which is a far better argument for intolerance than gluten). Hell no, lactose intolerance is so 80s – gluten intolerance is so bourgeois (bougie for you cool cats).
Anyone that truly is gluten intolerant (thus, having celiac disease will) tell you that they don’t deal with bloating and discomfort. It is PAINFUL and is a result of the small intestine not being able to absorb nutrients normally. If you would see someone with celiac disease you would quickly understand that you don’t have what you think you have.
What you likely do have are other foods in your diet that you haven’t taken long enough to check whether you are digesting them well or not.
Lactose is an issue for most people whether they think so or not. Most people don’t know if they are lactose intolerant because they mistakenly think that lactose intolerance means you drink milk and shit your pants. Okay, maybe that is an oversimplification, but most people think that unless they drink milk and get diarrhea they aren’t lactose intolerant. The reality is that most adults cannot efficiently digest lactose (the sugar in milk) due to lacking an enzyme that they once had as a child.
Does anyone that works out digest protein as efficiently as possible? Anyone within ten feet of you should be able to answer that. Protein usually makes up a good portion of someone’s calories and daily food intake that works out, yet, lately gets little to no attention in the gassy/bloat game.
What you might not know is that it has been shown, in at least one study, that there is no direct link to gluten causing any gastrointestinal distress, at all. In fact, the guy who did this study was also the guy that did the study that first DID show evidence (or so he thought) that gluten intolerance existed outside of people diagnosed with celiac disease. He wanted to do a better study than the first and when he did he found absolutely no connection. He went one step further and noted that after the second study it appeared much more likely that the real culprit for gastrointestinal distress was actually certain short-chain carbohydrates.
It amazes me how quickly people will self-diagnose and put themselves into the latest category of “this is what I have”. This might seem like a stretch but I believe this: I actually think that a big part of this is the attention that it brings. When out in public eating at a restaurant, it puts you center stage to tell the waiter, and anyone within ear-shot when you order, that you are special. You eat differently than everyone else, you are tuned into your body and you are healthier than other people because you are avoiding the toxic mess that is gluten. You might even insist that your kids don’t eat gluten, too.
Do your homework. Don’t be so quick to accept the latest nutritional trend as your new pending doom. Either that or just be honest and admit that you are an attention whore. Bodybuilding is full of attention whores. You will fit right in. Just Sayin’.