Gluten has to be the most notorious diet-related issue of our time.

Is it a fad? Is it an allergy or an intolerance? Does it just bother your gut, or can it cause other problems? Does having a problem with gluten mean you have celiac disease? These and many other questions are commonplace. Rest assured, gluten is not a passing fad – in fact, is a serious issue for a huge part of our population.

Gluten is a molecule, found in some plants, that humans cannot digest. Plants that contain gluten like wheat, barley, rye, triticale, and spelt are types of grass. Gluten is a part of the plant that gives us no nutritional value at all. It’s just something found inside the seed of the wheat, etc. that keeps the seed alive during the winter. In fact, the farther north you grow these grains, the more gluten you will get per pound. Red Canadian wheat has more gluten content than wheat grown in Mexico, for example.

You are either a person who is sensitive to gluten or you are not. You hear more about gluten today because we have figured out that many people are sensitive to this “grass” protein. People with certain illnesses like Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, type-1 diabetes, psoriasis, Crohn’s disease, colitis, Sjogren’s, Lupus, and even Lymphoma are much more sensitive to gluten than people who don’t have these problems.

If you want more info, you can check out the book Grain Brain or watch Dr. Rostenberg’s YouTube video titled Pain from the Grain. These sources will give you more of the science behind this problem. At Red Mountain, we take food seriously and realize that food is medicine – but it can also be poison. We routinely help our patients remove gluten from their life and see the amazing results. Patients of all ages see improved energy, focus, less pain, and better sleep by taking out this irritating diet component. Do you have a problem with gluten? The answer is maybe, and if you have any of the health problems above, the answer is certainly. We will help you figure out if gluten is a problem for you, give you the tools to get rid of it, and guide you into a gluten-free lifestyle with more radiant health and well being.